The Ignorance of Love
by literarygenius4.0
Summary: People have a tendency to miss what is right in front of their face...especially Naruto. This is a story of true friendship and true love, with more than a few bumps along the way. YAOI! SasuNaru
1. The Journey Begins

Nel here, thought I would give this a try. Hope you all enjoy. I'll try to update at least weekly. Comments welcome. =]

THE IGNORANCE OF LOVE

IN that moment he knew. He knew that it was love, no question. Why had it taken him so long, why hadn't he realized it sooner. He was such a fool. The light slowly disappeared as he sank deeper into the water, and slid away from his soul as the love of his life walked away.

xxx

Naruto awoke to light shining in through his now open blinds. _I thought I closed tho…_ his thoughts trailed off when he saw the man standing beside them, the only thing showing was his right eye, the other hidden behind his leaf village headband. A mask covered the rest of his face from the nose down. His silver white hair looked painfully florescent with the bright backdrop of sunshine gleaming though the window.

"What the hell Kakashi!" Naruto shot him a grumpy frown.

Kakashi responded with a good morning in his usual laid back demeanor. He gave him a slight smile before continuing, not that you could tell. "We have a mission."

"But it's my day off!" Naruto groggily sat up in bed, although sleep was becoming a distant memory at the thought of having a mission.

"Duty doesn't take breaks, Naruto." Kakashi replied coolly.

"Finneee." Naruto grumbled as he reluctantly wiped the sleep from his eyes and began getting out of the bed. His already unruly blond hair was completely disheveled, his walrus night cap clinging on for dear life. His bright blue eyes, deep as the sea, had the spark of life shining in them. They brighten even more when he noticed breakfast on the table.

"I made you breakfast, eat up, and then meet us at the front gate so we can get this mission over with." With that, Kakashi disappeared from the room.

xxx

Naruto scarfed down breakfast, showered, brushed his teeth, got dressed, and rushed to meet his comrades down at the front gate. He tied his head band with the leaf insignia around his forehead in hopes of somewhat taming his messy hair. His unzipped black and orange jacket blew in the wind as he hurried through the streets. As he neared the gate he could already see Sai, Sakura, and Kakashi waiting for him.

"What? Did you not have time to comb your hair?" Sakura remarked, "Idiot." She muttered under her breath.

"Glad you could make it Naruto." Kakashi added.

Naruto decided to ignore Sakura's comment and looked at Kakashi instead. "So, what is this mission anyways, Sensei?"

"I'll explain on the way." And with that, the four of them were off full speed ahead. As they jumped from tree limb to limb Kakashi began explaining. "Our mission is to gather intel on the Akatsuki. Ever since Sasuke killed Orochimaru, we have been able to concentrate more efforts into figuring out exactly what the Akatsuki are planning. We are not to engage if at all possible. Got it Naruto?" Kakashi shot Naruto a knowing glace when he said the last part.

"Yea, yea, I got it." Naruto was already lost in thought. He was thinking about the possibility that they might run into Sasuke. Rumors were that Sasuke had joined up with the Akatsuki, but Naruto didn't believe that, not for a second. Sasuke could be dense, and a complete bastard at times, but even he wasn't that stupid. Was he? Naruto couldn't even stomach the thought of that being the case. He shook his head and brought himself out of the nightmare of a thought. He would get Sasuke back.

They continued the journey in silence, each person lost in their own thoughts. Before they knew it the sun was setting, throwing beams of yellow, orange, and pink light across the sky. The few rays that were able to cut through the dense cover of trees cast the forest floor in an other worldly light. Animals of all types were out foraging for their dinner creating a truly peaceful seen. Even so, the four ninja moving silently though the trees didn't feel peaceful in the least. They were heading into enemy territory, always having to be on guard in case of attack. At best, they were jealous of the animals that didn't have a care in the world accept which leaf to eat or where to find the best grubs. The sound of Kakashi's voice brought everyone out of their thoughts.

"I think we have gone far enough for today, let's stop and make camp for the night." At that, they all made their way down to a nearby clearing and began setting up for the night. Naruto volunteered to take first watch; he didn't think he could sleep if he tried.

xxx

Water dripped quietly onto the cold stone floor in the corner of Sasuke's dark room, if you could even call it a room. It was more of a glorified hole in the wall, likely created as the rocks in the mountain shifted. The constant drip had become almost nonexistent to Sasuke, it had dripped like that since day one. A black cloak, with red clouds outlined in white was slung over the singular chair in the room. It sat in front of a desk with a candle burning on it, casting eerie shadows on the wall; it was almost completely burnt out. Sasuke sitting on the edge of his bed clutched a photo in his right hand, his left clenched into a tight fist. The longer he stared the more his blood boiled. It was what kept him going, by whatever means necessary. Three smiling faces looked back at him from the photo, his old team mates, but one in particular made him seethe. The goofy, blond haired, idiot, smiling as if he didn't have a care in the world. Sasuke would become stronger than him; no matter what it took he would surpass Naruto.

"Naruto..." Sasuke muttered under his breath. "I'll kill you."

xxx

The sun was almost completely down by the time Naruto got situated in a tree to start his watch. Kakashi was using what little light was left to read, Sai was drawing, and Sakura was staring off into space, her pink hair perfectly framing her face. Even when she was upset she was pretty. Naruto had had a crush on her since the first time he saw her. He would protect her, no matter what. Even if she never loved him back, he would keep her safe. If only he could get Sasuke back, then team seven could be complete again. He had promised Sakura he would succeed, and as he has said time and time again, he doesn't go back on his word. _What are you doing Sasuke…why won't you just come back to us, it's where you belong. Why can't you see that?_ Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by Sai tapping him on the shoulder. 4 hours had gone by already? He realized that he had been clenching his fist as he thought about Sasuke.

"Thinking about Sasuke again?" Sai asked quietly. Naruto's eyes widened slightly.

"Yea…how did you know?"

"You always get that distant look, and if what I have read in books is correct, the expression you get on your face is one of sadness."

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle. "I guess all those books have taught you a thing or two after all." He gave a big stretch as he stood.

"Do you really think you can bring Sasuke back?"

"Without a doubt." His voice sounded more confident than he felt. "I'm going to turn in, night Sai."

"Good night Naruto."

Naruto hopped down from his look out post and lay down on his sleeping pad. As many thoughts as he had circling through his head sleep still quickly overcame him and the world went black.


	2. The Search is On

Nel here, hope you enjoyed the first chapter. I am open to requests as well. Enjoy part 2! =]

xxx

Rays of light shining through the trees brought Naruto out of his restless sleep far sooner than he would've liked. Everyone else was already awake. Kakashi, reading as usual, Sai was finishing packing up the few things they had, and Sakura was finishing breakfast. Naruto tried to stretch out all of the knots he had in his back from sleeping on the ground.

"I gotta take a leak." Naruto announced.

"You don't have to tell us!" Sakura shouted. "You're so gross Naruto."

Naruto let out a small smile. He loved to tease her, she would get big creases in her brow, and the vane on the side of her neck would stick out whenever she got angry. It was cute. More often than not his jokes ended up with him in pain, but it was worth it. He walked off into the woods to complete the task he had announced to the group.

 _That asshole._ Sakura thought to herself. _He is always doing things to bother me. Well, it's not funny._ She dished out four bowls of food as she ranted to herself about Naruto. The four of them hurriedly finished up breakfast and set out on the trail once more. It took about half the day for them to reach the boarder of the Sound and they stopped to take a break. Kakashi spoke up first.

"Alright, here's the plan. From here on out we will be in two groups. Sai, and Naruto, you will be together and me and Sakura." Before he could continue he was interrupted by a groan.

"But I wanted to be with Sakura!" Naruto crossed his arms and stuck out a pouty lip.

"Like I was saying..." Kakashi continued as if Naruto hadn't just interrupted. "We will be able to cover more ground this way. Do not engage the enemy. If the need should arise, contact the other group right away. Got it everyone?" Everyone gave a nod of agreement. "We will meet back here in three days time. Good luck." At that, they dispersed.

xxx

Naruto and Sai moved silently though the trees as they progressed towards one of the possible Akatsuki hide outs.

"You ready for this Sai?" His question was answered by a knowing smile. "I guess you are part of the Anbu, huh? You are probably always prepared for the worst, ya know?" He laughed a little bit and ran his hand threw his unruly hair at the back of his head.

"Well, we very well could die." Sai responded, holding a smile the whole time.

Naruto's eyes grew big and his mouth opened with shock. "Whhhaaaat?! Why would you say that! That doesn't make me feel any better!" His tone quickly changing from shock to annoyance. Sai couldn't help but laugh at Naruto's reaction.

"Don't worry, like you said, I am prepared for anything." Naruto let out a hardy laugh.

"I guess so! I'm glad you're on my team then."

The thick forest began to part into a clearing. It had turned out to be a beautiful day. The sun shone brightly, blocked only by the occasional wondering cloud that was blow around at the mercy of the breeze. The breeze was cool and ruffled the leaves on the trees blowing against the faces of the two young men standing at the edge of the clearing.

"Almost makes you forget what we came out here for." Naruto said casually.

"I wish I had time to draw this."

"Well, let's keep moving. Supposedly, the hideout is somewhere in those mountains."

The two began making their way across the clearing.

xxx

Eyes as dark as obsidian, watched the pair slowly start to make their way across the open field. Sasuke sat expressionless on the edge of a cliff. He had always been good at hiding his emotions. No matter what was going on, he could always keep it inside. He sat with one leg hanging over the edge, one leg pulled up. His lean muscular arms behind him. To anyone passing by they would just think he was relaxing on a beautiful day, when in fact he was watching his enemy. Sasuke's "teammate" walked up behind him.

"So, should we take care of them?"

Sasuke answered without even turning around. "No. they are not alone. When they didn't report back it would raise unwanted suspicion. Plus, I don't think they know our exact location, if we killed them it would be like raising a huge flag saying look, here we are." _Idiot._ At that, the man headed back into the mountain. _He's as bad as Naruto._ Sasuke's white shirt blew in the wind, revealing more of his body, the wide plunging v of his shirt leaving little to the imagination. When he first saw his rival emerge from the tree line his chest had gotten tight, and his heart had started pounding so hard he thought it might come out of his chest. Far from the reaction he had been expecting. He had thought he would feel rage, or excitement at the opportunity to kill him, but not nervous, and definitely not happiness. He had quickly squashed down any feeling that could interfere with his goal. And now the only thing left was rage. Sasuke got up and walked over to the cave entrance.

"Time to go. We will keep an eye on them from a distance." He companion appeared and they set out.

xxx

By the time they made it to the foot of the mountain range it was late afternoon.

"Wow, that took a lot longer than I thought. We are going to have to pick up the pace if we want to check out both of the possible locations for Akatsuki hideouts on this mountain and make it back in three days." Naruto took a deep breath and sighed. "How many were there again, two?"

"That's correct."

"Let me guess, they are on opposite sides of this mountain range?"

"Actually, yes."

"Damn. There's no way. Well, lets get up to the top and make camp. We can come up with a strategy then."

It was pitch dark when they reached the top of the mountain. They fumbled around to try and get their sleeping pads out.

"I'm going to scout for a good spot to keep watch, have a plan thought up by the time I get back, okay?" Sai turned at the sound of Naruto's voice. He gave a nod as he began pulling some snacks out of his pack. Naruto walked slowly through the darkness, careful to keep an eye on the ever growing drop off to his right. After having only walked a little way he found himself standing on a cliff that overlooked the way they had just come. _This is the perfect place to keep watch, you could see someone coming for miles._ There was a full moon out and it filled the night with silver light, the forest below looked so still and peaceful. _I wish I was with Sakura...Kakashi, that bastard. I mean sure, him and Sai are the only ones that have jutsu or summoning's for sending messages, but still!_ Naruto was brought out of his thoughts when he saw something out of the corner of his eye glinting in the moon light. He turned toward the towering wall of rock behind him. Another plus to this spot, no one could sneak up behind you. He walked toward the shining object on the ground. When he got close enough to see what it was he froze, his deep blue eyes growing large. As he bent to pick it up his hands shook. He picked up the object and stared at it. It took all his strength to maintain his composure.

xxx

Sasuke watched intently from his perch far in the distance at the top of a tree. _What is he doing, I thought that idiot said he had covered our tracks. He might be even worse than Naruto. It looks like he hasn't discovered the entrance yet, that's something. I guess at this point it doesn't matter, we will probably never go back there again anyways. Tch. He is just standing there, moron._ Sasuke called his rage to the surface, no way he would lose to a moron like Naruto. Only one of them would walk away alive, and if he lost, he deserved to be dead. He clenched his teeth at the thought of their upcoming battle. Naruto had no idea what was coming.

xxx

Tears filled Naruto's eyes and dripped down onto the picture of team seven, clearly worn by travel and being held. "Sasuke..." Naruto said through his tears. "I'm coming for you I promise. You're not alone." He shoved the picture of team seven into his pocket and tried to regain his composure as he headed back down to their camp.

"So, did you come up with a foolproof plan yet Sai?" Sai lay on his mat already sound asleep. Naruto smiled. "I guess first watch is mine then." He chuckled. He grabbed some snacks out of his pack and headed back up the path to stand watch.


	3. Sasuke!

Early the next morning the two young men sat discussing their plan for the day while eating some rice balls.

"I think we should split up. We will be able to cover more ground that way." Naruto hadn't mentioned anything that had happened the night before to Sai.

"I don't know Naruto, what if we run into the enemy?"

"Well, either we split up, or we only check one of the possible locations for an Akatsuki hide out. I can send a shadow clone to get you if anything happens, and you can send a bird. We are only doing recon, right?"

"I guess if it's the only way."

"Alright, we will meet back here at sunset. Let's go!" Naruto quickly disappeared into the forest. Sai couldn't get rid of the bad feeling he had in his chest about this idea, but it was the only way to check both places.

Naruto let out a deep breath once he was away from Sai, he wasn't sure that he would go for the idea of splitting up. The more he thought about finding Sasuke the faster his feet moved. The thought of finally seeing him again made his heart race. He would get him back. He had too. Having found that picture last night, he knew that it was possible. Sasuke stilled cared about them, why else would he carry the picture? He could still remember that day like it was yesterday. He couldn't help but snicker, they were 12 then, children, and their rivalry had been so stupid. He had just wanted to find someone to take out his frustration on, and that bastard with his know it all attitude had been asking for it. He had worked hard, trained hard, almost everything he had done was just to be better than Sasuke. Naruto chuckled internally, who would he really be without Sasuke? He was almost 17 now. It had been almost five years since Sasuke had left the village, it was hard for him to wrap his mind around it. Who would he be today if he hadn't been working all these years determined to grow strong enough to bring Sasuke back? Back than he had convinced himself that he hated Sasuke, but that wasn't true at all, he was his friend. His best friend. That day in the Valley of the End, it had been pouring rain. He had chased after him, because he had promised Sakura that he would bring Sasuke back to her, and because he was his best friend. Sasuke had been so angry, so full of hate. Naruto clenched his fist as he thought about it. In the end, when he lost, all he could think about was how much he didn't want Sasuke to leave him. He didn't want to lose the one person in his life that had really matter to him. _I couldn't bring you back then, but I will today. Five years I've been training, I won't let you walk away from me again. No matter what it takes._

It was a cloudy day today, the exact opposite of how the last two days had been. It would probably start raining soon, which meant if he didn't hurry any chance of picking up any kind of trail would be gone. The sky looked about how he felt. The clouds churned in the wind like ocean waves. To describe his emotions as churned up was probably an understatement to say the least. As he broke through the tree line he found himself on the edge of a lake. He started across the water when something made him pause in his tracks. Sitting on a ledge on the other side of the lake was the person he had been searching for. The two locked eyes, neither one moving. Naruto thought his chest might explode; it was pounding so hard it almost hurt. He couldn't take his eyes off Sasuke, he looked different, yet completely the same. He had that same expressionless "I don't care" stare that never seemed to leave his face. Yet, no matter how hard Sasuke tried he couldn't hide the fact the he had feelings from Naruto. Or the fact that he felt them deeply, intensely. Naruto knew, he knew because it was the same for him, except he goofed off and played pranks to hide his emotions, Sasuke just acted cold and uncaring.

After a few moments that felt like an eternity, Naruto finally decided to break the silence.

"Sasuke…" He paused trying to figure out what he should say. "They've been saying you've joined the Akatsuki…is that true?"

Sasuke took in Naruto with his dark obsidian eyes. "For now."

"But why! Sasuke, they're evil, and Itachi is dead now, just come home!" Naruto could feel his emotions starting to boil to the surface.

"I have other things I want to accomplish."

"How is the Akatsuki the way to do it? I don't understand!" Naruto clenched his fists.

"I wouldn't expect you too!" Anger flamed up in Sasuke's eyes. "I came here for one reason, and one reason only…to kill you!" With that Sasuke flew from the ledge he had been using for a perch. In the blink of an eye he was directly in front of Naruto. Naruto's eyes were wide with shock. He hadn't been expecting that. Thanks to his training and reflexes Naruto was able to dodge Sasuke's attack despite being caught off guard.

"But…but Sasuke…why?" Naruto couldn't hide his emotions this time. It was like his heart had torn in two. The last thing he wanted to do was fight Sasuke to the death, he couldn't, no, he wouldn't. Tears welled up in his eyes.

"I don't want to fight you Sasuke! Don't do this!" Sasuke was taken aback when he saw tears begin to form in Naruto's eyes. He couldn't understand why Naruto continued to fight for him with so much conviction. Even after he had just told him his goal was to kill him. No, he couldn't back down he had come this far. He was going to finish it.

"Fine then, die!" Sasuke called forth all his rage, his katana was out of its home before you could take a breath and was swinging toward Naruto with deadly speed. The initial surprise and shock Naruto felt had quickly faded, and was replaced with a burning desire to change Sasuke's mind, whatever the cost. As quickly as Sasuke had attacked, Naruto dodged. He used the few seconds he had to put some distance between him and Sasuke.

"Multi shadow clone jutsu!" A clone appeared and began forming the ball of chakra in Naruto's out stretched hand. "Rasengan!"

As quickly as Naruto prepared his attack, Sasuke was ready with his counter. "Chidori!"

With a yell they charged each other at full speed, it took only a moment for them to reach each other. For Naruto and Sasuke it felt like slow motion. For Naruto it was slow enough for him to realize he couldn't do it. He couldn't hurt Sasuke. Just before contact he let the Rasengan dissipate. He had just enough time to keep Sasuke from hitting a vital area. Sasuke's hand protruded from Naruto's back. It had gone straight through the muscles of Naruto's shoulder and chest, just below his collarbone. He lurched forward unable to remain standing against the excruciating pain. Sasuke pulled his arm free and stared in shock as Naruto fell onto the surface of the water.

 _Why would he do that, it doesn't make any sense. That idiot!_ What had started out as shock turned to anger. It made Sasuke furious that Naruto would do something so stupid. He Kicked Naruto over onto his back. Puting one leg on either side of Naruto's waist and knelt over him. He held his katana over his head in both hands. Naruto had managed to prop himself up on his good arm just a little bit, his other hung limply.

"Just do it! If you want me dead that badly go ahead!" Tears poured from Naruto's eyes. Partly from the pain and partly from the horrible sadness that was breaking his heart. "If I can't bring you back, I might as well die trying!"

Sasuke's whole body shook with rage. The longer he stared into Naruto's eyes the more it grew, and yet he still hadn't moved. Why hadn't he moved? He had his chance all he had to do was move! Sasuke let out a yell; he poured his heart and soul into it. He let all the emotions he had been feeling and holding inside out in that yell. He plunged his sword downward. Naruto closed his eyes tightly as his death came barreling toward him.

A few seconds had passed before Naruto realized he was still breathing. He slowly opened his eyes to see Sasuke's katana safely put away in its sheath on his back. His head hung, face in his hands. Tears dripped through his fingers onto Naruto.

Sasuke let the tears flow freely. He didn't care, in fact, it felt good. All the rage he felt looking at Naruto, he felt it because he knew he couldn't do it, he couldn't kill him. His best friend. He couldn't complete his final goal. He regained his composure. He looked down at Naruto, who immediately locked eyes with him. The look on Naruto's face didn't make any sense to Sasuke. It wasn't a look he had seen before. It was as if Naruto had just realized something and it was hurting him more than any physical pain ever could. It made Sasuke angry.

"You stupid idiot!" He punched Naruto with all of his strength. Then he did it again. One to the face one to the stomach. The third time he caught Naruto in his wounded shoulder. Naruto cried out in pain and it caused him to lose his concentration on maintaining his chakra and he sank into the water.


	4. The Truth Comes Out

Sasuke watched as Naruto sank beneath the surface of the water. Sasuke was still kneeling on the surface, his face still wet with tears. _I guess I should just go, if I'm not going to kill him there is no point in me staying here._ Sasuke thought to himself. _What is it about Naruto that gives him the ability to change my mind? It seems that no matter how hard I try I can't keep him out of my life._ Sasuke stood and began to walk away.

In that moment he knew. He knew that it was love, no question. Why had it taken him so long, why hadn't he realized it sooner. He was such a fool. The light slowly disappeared as he sank deeper into the water, and slid away from his soul as the love of his life walked away. When he had opened his eyes and saw Sasuke kneeling there, his tears dripping onto him, he realized it. The reason he had been chasing him, trying to get him back all this time. He loved him. He loved him with all his heart. He didn't want to live another day, another second without Sasuke in his life. Sasuke meant more to him than anything else in his life, he cared about him passionately. He couldn't lose him again. He felt the lake bed underneath him; he pushed off the bottom with his feet. Once he broke through the surface he took in a big breath and used his good arm to pull himself up and back onto the surface of the water. What had started out as a dark churning sky had turned into a downpour. The sky had finally decided to let loose it's fury. So similar to that day, but this time it would be different. Once he had caught his breath and regained his footing he took off running towards Sasuke. As soon as he was within reach Naruto grabbed his wrist.

"Sasuke! Wait!" Sasuke paused for a moment, glanced over his shoulder and then pulled his arm away.

"Sasuke!" Naruto grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him to turn around. "Look at me!"

"What, Naruto?" Sasuke stared coldly at him. It drove another spike of pain into Naruto's already aching heart.

"You can't leave, not again, please! You're breaking my heart!" Tears started to fill Naruto's eyes and stream down his face along with the rain. Sasuke turned around and began to walk away again.

"Sasuke, I realized something when you didn't kill me; I realized life without you isn't worth living!" Sasuke didn't turn around as Naruto bared his soul.

"Sasuke! I love you…" He closed his eyes tightly, clenched his fists, and yelled it with all his heart. "I LOVE YOU!"

Sasuke froze. Did he really just say? He turned toward Naruto. His heart was pounding and his palms had grown sweaty. Despite the downpour of freezing rain he felt hot. He didn't know how to react. Had Naruto just said that to try to shock him and get him to stop? If so, it had worked…but the look on Naruto's face…it looked genuine…maybe he had heard him wrong. That must be it.

"What did you just say?"

"Bastard…here I am professing my love for you and you're not even listening. I guess you are really going to make me say it again, aren't you?" In the blink of an eye Naruto was in front of Sasuke, his shirt gripped tightly in his hand.

"Don't miss it this time." Naruto leaned in close to Sasuke's face, his cheeks filling with color when Naruto got close.

"I love you Sasuke…" His voice softened along with his grip on Sasuke's shirt. "With all my heart and I will not lose you." Naruto was so close Sasuke could feel his breath against his face as he spoke. He was overwhelmed by the confession that Naruto had just made.

Naruto couldn't help but smirk. For once Sasuke was the one with an idiotic look on his face. He actually looked pretty cute with his mouth hanging open and his eyes all bugged out. Now that he had figured out his true feelings everything made sense. All of the tension that had always been between him and Sasuke… _I guess all this time Sasuke was right; maybe I am an idiot._ Naruto chuckled to himself.

"If you leave your mouth open like that you might drowned." Sasuke abruptly closed his mouth, his already red face turning a darker shade even still. Naruto smiled at him, the realist smile he had ever given anyone. He put every ounce of love into that smile for Sasuke to see. He ran the hand that had been holding onto Sasuke's shirt through his sopping wet hair, and down his jawline. He gently cupped Sasuke's face in his hand.

"Wha…what are you?" Before Sasuke could voice any objections, Naruto interrupted him.

"Just kiss me you idiot." With that Naruto pulled Sasuke toward him, not giving him any further opportunity to protest. He closed his eyes as their lips met. Sasuke's mouth was warm, especially in contrast to the frigid rain that had soaked them both to the bone. Kissing Sasuke was bliss. Naruto pulled him closer to himself. His lips were soft; it was like floating through the clouds.

xxx

Before Sasuke could protest Naruto had pulled him close and kissed him. Every muscle in his body had tensed when Naruto's lips met his. His kiss was warm and soft…inviting…at first he had been shocked, horrified even, he had stood unmoving just staring at Naruto kissing him, he was about to punch him but then Naruto had pulled him even closer and he couldn't help but relax into the embrace. His eyes had slowly begun to slide closed and before he knew it he had wrapped his arms around Naruto's neck and was kissing him back.

xxx

Naruto didn't think anything could be better than the feel of Sasuke's mouth against his until Sasuke had relaxed into him and he felt him kiss back. When he felt Sasuke press into the kiss it had been more than he could handle, he let out a small moan. He had never felt such happiness in his whole life as he did in this moment. Sasuke had wrapped his arms around Naruto's neck and had intertwined one of his hands in Naruto's sopping wet tangled mess of blond hair. Sasuke and Naruto were plastered together; Naruto pulled Sasuke's lower lip through his teeth breaking their lip lock for a moment. They looked deeply into each other's eyes, both panting slightly. Naruto started to speak but then he saw that Sasuke had a smirk on his face, before he had a chance to wonder why, Sasuke had pulled him into another kiss, but this one was different. Sasuke gently slid his tongue into Naruto's mouth, hugging him tightly as he did so. Naruto grabbed Sasuke urgently and let out a moan before passionately returning the favor. The intensity with which Naruto kissed Sasuke back sent a shiver through his body, he squeezed Naruto tightly. Naruto let out whimper, but it didn't sound like pleasure. Sasuke pulled away.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, it's just my arm, ya know?" Naruto smiled awkwardly. "I kind of forgot about it until just now when you squeezed me like that. When you kissed me back all of my senses just went crazy, ya know?" He let out a nervous laugh. Blood mixed with water covered Naruto's clothes. Sasuke looked him over.

"You're a mess, and we should really get out of this rain. Let's get going then; there's a hideout back by where you slept last night." He turned around and bent over.

"Uh, Sasuke…what are you doing?" He looked over his shoulder.

"What does it look like I'm doing? You can't travel in your condition, you've already lost too much blood…idiot. Now get on before I change my mind." Naruto climbed up onto Sasuke's back. "Dammit Naruto, what do you eat?"

"HEY, you volunteered for this so quit your complaining!" Naruto pouted as Sasuke made his way across the lake.

"Calm down Naruto, I was just kidding."

Between carrying Naruto, and the rain it took longer than expected to make it back to the cave at the top of the mountain. Once inside the cave, Sasuke laid Naruto down on his bed and collapsed on the floor next to it, and leaned up against the bed frame. He let out a sigh.

"That was a lot more work than I thought. I'm exhausted." Sasuke laid his head back against the bed. "Well, this day definitely did not go as planned." He smirked as he rubbed his neck. His heart beat faster when he thought back to the events from earlier. He was still a little bit in shock, but thinking about kissing Naruto made his heart race, he could still feel his kiss on his lips. He let his fingertips come to rest on his lips and smiled at the memory. God, he was so confused now. He had just kissed, I repeat, kissed, Naruto Uzumaki. He shook his head and sighed. He would figure it out when he was less tired. Things had just changed, but he was pretty sure he liked it.


	5. No Turning Back

Nel here, hope everyone is enjoying the story. Shout out to those of you who have written reviews, thanks for the input and the encouragement. I love to write and it makes me happy knowing others are enjoying. Hope you are ready for this next chapter!

xxx

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, he groaned, he hurt all over. He looked around the room trying to figure out where he was. He suddenly remembered everything that had transpired earlier. _Oh yeah…that's right, Sasuke was carrying me on his back and I passed out, we must be back at that hide out he was talking about._ Pain shot through his shoulder as he tried to sit up. He realized that he was shirtless and his shoulder had been bandaged. His face heated at the thought of Sasuke undressing him. His eyes drifted to Sasuke who was sitting in a chair in the far corner of the small room, his head resting against the wall. His eyes closed. Naruto was contentedly staring at him when he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh no, Sai!" He jumped out of the bed. Sasuke opened his eyes and looked at Naruto. He didn't move from his spot. "Sasuke, what time is it?" Naruto frantically looked around for his shirt in the little room.

"There is about 10 minutes of sunlight left, it is almost completely down." Sasuke replied with moving. "Your shirt is by the entrance of the cave, I washed all the blood out in the rain it's drying. I also stitched the hole as best I could."

"Oh, thanks Sasuke. I told Sai we would meet up at sunset. If I don't meet him he will get worried."

Sasuke looked Naruto over. He seemed like a whole new person to him now. When he used to look at Naruto all he saw was a bumbling idiot, a rival that he had to destroy. Now, he noticed the deep blue color of his eyes, his tan skin. He noticed how he was all muscle, and how his pants sat low on his hips showing the two dimples on the small of his back. His sunshine colored hair was a constant mess. Sasuke bit his lower lip as he continued to take in Naruto's lean muscular form. Did he return Naruto's feelings? Was he in love with him, or was he just caught off guard by Naruto's sudden profession of love. There was that kiss…well…those kisses earlier. Sasuke was torn from his thoughts when Naruto spoke.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Sasuke's cheeks turned red and he quickly looked away.

"I was just staring off into space and you happened to stand in front of me. You better go meet Sai before he starts to wonder." Naruto put one hand on his hip, and relaxed against the wall. He let out a small chuckle and smiled at Sasuke. Sasuke couldn't help but notice how his eyes sparkled when he smiled.

"Whatever you say Sasuke. I'm gunna get going. You coming?"

"No, I don't think I am ready to see anyone else yet. For that matter, I don't know if they are ready to see me. I'll wait here."

"Alright, I'll be back a little later. Don't miss me too much." Naruto winked at him. It made Sasuke's heart do a little flip in his chest.

"Tch. Whatever." He gave Naruto his best smirk.

Naruto grabbed his shirt on the way out. Impressed by Sasuke's quick repair job. Despite the physical pain he was in he couldn't be happier. Now that Sasuke knew his feelings, and if he had to guess, based on the way Sasuke had kissed him earlier he felt the same, even if he hadn't admitted it yet. Naruto walked out the entrance of the cave, it was barely more than a fissure in the solid wall of rock. Once outside he stopped suddenly.

'Whhaaaaatt!? This was here the entire time!?" He pouted angrily. "How did I miss something so obvious?" He let out an exasperated sigh. "Oh well." He started toward where they had camped the night before. There was little more than a light drizzling falling from the still gray sky. He walked into the clearing they had slept in the night before just as the sun disappeared on the horizon. Sai was sitting on his bed roll. Elbow resting on his knee, chin resting on his fist. He smiled at Naruto.

"You're late."

"Heh, yeah, sorry about that, I got a little lost." He gave his most convincing smile. "You have any luck?"

"No, I was hoping you had by how late you were. The storm really made things difficult." Sai sat back his hands. "Well?"

"Nothing, total bust." Naruto felt bad lying to Sai, but he couldn't let him know he had found Sasuke, not yet any way. "Wish I had better news. Maybe Kakashi and Sakura had better luck?"

"I hope so. Naruto, where is your pack?"

"Uh.." Naruto's heart tightened, he had completely forgotten his pack back at the lake. He had thrown it onto the bank when he fought Sasuke…if you could really call it that. It was more just him taking a beating. He had to think of something quickly or Sai would figure out something was wrong. "It caught on a tree while I was running and ripped, so I just left it. Without a pack there was no way I could carry all that stuff, ya know?" _Did he buy it?_ Naruto nervously ran his hand through the hair at the back of his head. The silence felt like it would drag on forever when Sai finally spoke.

"Sounds like you had quite the eventful journey. You can sleep on my pad while I'm on watch and I think I have some extra rice balls." Naruto realized at the mention of food that he was starving.

"Thanks Sai, you're a real life saver." He gratefully took the rice ball Sai handed to him and scarfed it down.

"Alright, I guess I'll take first watch this time." Sai stood.

"Uh, no!" Naruto stammered. "I mean, I'll do it since I was late."

"Oh, if that's what you want." He sat back down.

'Well, I better go get set up." Naruto began to walk away. "And Sai…I'm glad you made it back safe." Sai smiled.

"You too Naruto."

Once he was a good ways away Naruto let out a big sigh. "Phew, that was a close one. I didn't think he was going to believe me." He made his way back to the cave and went inside.

Sasuke was sitting on the bed crisscross apple sauce staring at the Akatsuki robe that was still hung over the back of the chair. He looked up when Naruto entered the room.

"That was fast."

"Yeah, well, I figured the less questions I answered the better. We are good for the next few hours though." Naruto sat down next to Sasuke and crossed his legs to match. "So, what have you been doing?"

"Just thinking…my goals were so clear, but now I'm not sure what I am going to do."

"Come back with me." Naruto leaned a little closer to him. "Let's put the past to bed and just start over." Sasuke didn't answer and just kept staring at the robe in the corner.

"Hey." Naruto turned Sasuke's face toward him. "Don't doubt for a single second anything I told you earlier. I meant every word." He gave him a reassuring smile. "And I never go back on my word." A small smile wisped across Sasuke's lips.

"It's just…" Any trace of a smile disappeared and Sasuke got deadly serious. "I learned the truth about Itachi, I learned that the reason he killed our entire clan is because he had been ordered by the elders of the Leaf. The only reason I'm alive is because he loved me…he couldn't kill his little brother." Sasuke's eyes become wet, but no tears fell.

"Sasuke…" Naruto reached out and took Sasuke's hand.

"It made me so angry; I swore to destroy the elders of the leaf and the entire village with them if I had too. I swore to kill you to gain more power, but now everything has changed, I'm not sure what to do now. I can't, I won't give up in my pursuit to bring the elders down."

"Oh, Sasuke...It's hard for me to believe that, but I don't think you would lie about something so serious either." He gave his hand a squeeze. "Just know I am here for you. If they really did something this heinous, we will find evidence and bring them to justice." Sasuke looked down at Naruto's hand holding his.

"Thank you, Naruto." Sasuke got up and walked over to the Akatsuki robe and picked it up. He looked at it for a moment before he spoke.

"If you promise me that we will take down the elders of the Leaf village. I'll leave the Akatsuki." Sasuke stared intently at Naruto as he waited for his answer. Anger along with determination flared in Naruto's eyes.

"If they did this, they will answer for it. I promise you that." Sasuke nodded in response.

"Will you burn it with me?" He grabbed the remaining candle nub off the desk and walked back over to the bed. "Let's put the past behind us."

"I'm with you." Sasuke put the robe the middle of the room and lit the candle. Naruto wrapped his hand around Sasuke's and together they lit the corner of the robe and watched as it went up in flames. The heat of the small fire felt good and helped to speed up the drying process of their still damp clothes. After a few moments of silence Naruto spoke up.

"Sasuke…I know I already promised you, but if what you say is really true, the village has a big problem. There will be no excuse good enough for what they've done. We will bring the leaders of the Leaf to justice for what they did, and we will restore the Uchiha clan, together." Sasuke turned and locked eyes with Naruto.

"You really mean that, don't you Naruto?" Naruto's eyes were still on the flaming coat as he answered.

"You know what I say." Sasuke smirked.

"You never go back on your word." Naruto smiled.

"Believe it." Sasuke reached out and grabbed the collar of Naruto's shirt and pulled him into a kiss. Naruto gave in willingly. _Mmm, he tastes so good._ Sasuke kissed him more deeply. _This feeling, is this love? This overwhelming desire I feel to be close to Naruto, to have more of him. Mmm, I can't handle it when he moans like that._ Sasuke pulled away just enough to speak. Naruto looked deeply into his eyes, he gave Sasuke another look that he had never seen before. It was almost trance like; Naruto had his bottom lip tightly between his teeth, both hands clutching the sheet to either side of him. Unlike last time Sasuke didn't have any trouble figuring out this look. Naruto could barely contain himself, his eyes pleaded for Sasuke not to stop. Every muscle in his body was tense. _Should I really do this?_ Before Sasuke had even answered his own question he was leaning toward Naruto's ear. He nibbled on Naruto's earlobe. Naruto inhaled sharply when he did, it made Sasuke want more. Every time Naruto reacted to Sasuke's touch it turned him on more. Sasuke whispered gently into Naruto's ear.

"How long did you say you had?" Naruto's eyes that had been closed shot open.

"About three hours now, but Sasuke are you…" Before he had finished his sentence, he was falling back onto the bed. Sasuke looked down at him.

"Positive." Naruto didn't need any further convincing. He pulled Sasuke into a tight embrace and kissed him passionately. He didn't hold back. He slid his tongue into Sasuke's mouth making him moan, Naruto returned it with his own. Sasuke began unzipping Naruto's shirt. As he took it off he was careful to not hurt Naruto when he slid it off his injured shoulder. Naruto tensed at the feel of Sasuke's touch against his bare skin. Naruto pulled Sasuke's shirt down over his shoulders, letting his fingers drag along his muscular arms until the shirt slipped free of his body completely. They separated, both breathing heavily, the desperate need for one another clear in their eyes. They were only apart long enough for them both to strip of their pants and then they came back together. When their naked bodies touched they both sighed with pleasure, it felt so natural, so good, like they had been meant to be together from the beginning of time. Sasuke licked up the entirety of Naruto's body, starting from his naval, following the clear line between his abs, and up his neck. Naruto grabbed him tightly as he went. They kissed fiercely. Naruto pulled away, and slid down so that his face was even with Sasuke's chest. He did one circle around one of Sasuke's nipples with his tongue before he pulled it into his mouth and sucked gently. Sasuke felt like all of his muscles had turned to jelly, it left him breathless. Beads of sweat had formed on both of their foreheads. Sasuke pulled Naruto back up so that he could kiss him. Sasuke put his pointer finger in his mouth and slowly pulled it back out as Naruto watched. Once it was out of his mouth he reconnected their lips. He trailed his dry fingers down the side of Naruto's neck, down the front of his chest until he reached his nipple; rubbing it with his wet finger.

Naruto cried out. It was muffled by Sasuke's mouth over his. He bit Sasuke's bottom lip as the rubbing continued. Naruto pulled away and took a deep breath, his facial expression reflecting his pleasure.

"Sasuke." He said breathlessly. "I want you." He let out a moan when Sasuke nibbled on his other nipple. "Take me." He pleaded, desperate for release. Sasuke didn't hesitate. He let his tongue trail against Naruto's body. Naruto grabbed tightly onto the sheets when he felt Sasuke's lips brush gently against his head, when he felt his mouth close around him and slide downward he whimpered his name. Sasuke took his time and made sure that Naruto was soaking wet before he climbed on top of him. He grabbed Naruto's hands, biting his lower lip as he slowly slid down onto Naruto. Naruto thought he was going to lose his mind as he was engulfed into Sasuke's tight heat. It took all of his will power not to pound into him and cause a serious injury.

"Oh, Sasuke…"

"Naruto…"

Once it was all the way in Naruto let go of Sasuke's hands, he brought one hand to his mouth at a time, licking each one until saliva dripped off, he grabbed onto Sasuke tightly, he was so hard, but his skin was so soft and began to rub. Sasuke arched his back and tossed his head back letting out a moan. He started to slide up and down on Naruto matching his speed. Beads of sweat dripped of both their faces, and ran down their bodies. Their motions got faster and faster. They both cried out in unison as they reached their peak. All of their muscles tensing as pleasure coursed through every cell of their bodies. They clung to each other urgently, everything else disappeared in that moment, nothing else existed but them, and they were one. Sasuke let Naruto slip out of him as he collapsed on top of him. Both of them panting, trying to regain their breath. Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke and kissed his forehead. Sasuke snuggled into the embrace, he placed an arm around Naruto's middle his head resting on his chest. They both lay their quietly, content to be in each other's arms, their breathing finally leveling out.

"Sasuke…"

"Hm?" He didn't open his eyes. "I love you." Sasuke hugged Naruto tightly and smiled, but didn't open his eyes. "It's nearly time for me to head back. Tomorrow we are going to meet back up with Kakashi and Sakura and head back to the village. Are you going to come?" It was silent for a moment.

"No. There are some things I need to take care of first. I may not be planning to destroy the village anymore, but it's not like we are on good terms."

"So, what are you going to do?" There was a pang of sadness in Naruto's voice. He had clearly been hoping Sasuke would just come back.

"Kill the Akatsuki."

"What? How are you going to do that? You can't kill them all, not by yourself." Sasuke finally opened his eyes and looked up at Naruto.

"I know that you idiot! But they think I am on their team right now, so I should be able to take a few of them out when they aren't expecting it. I can gather intel on the rest."

Naruto sighed. "I'm listening." Sasuke propped himself up on his elbow so that he could see Naruto's face. Naruto put his good arm behind his head. He stared at the ceiling, as Sasuke explained his plan.

"No one knows about this place, and as far as anyone is concerned when you and Sai report back you will have found nothing, so they will turn their attention to other places. Any time we need to meet we can do it here, and if one of us can't make it, we can leave any information hidden in here."

"How will we know when to meet?"

"A few miles outside of the village there is an old tree, it's almost completely hollow. Whenever I leave information I'll stick a kunai inside that tree. We probably won't be able to meet in person very often, but I'll wait around as long as I can before heading back out."

"What if they catch you?" The whole idea clearly didn't make Naruto happy.

"Let's hope they don't" They were both silent for a moment. Naruto let out a frustrated sigh.

"I don't like it, but it makes sense. You are the best chance we have of taking them down." He gently ran his hand down Sasuke's arm. "I just can't lose you."

"You won't." He leaned over and kissed Naruto gently. Reluctantly, they both got up and started getting dressed. Naruto's watch had been over for a while now.

"Sasuke, be honest, why are you doing this? Risking your life for a village that based on what you're telling me, ordered your own brother to kill your entire clan. Why bother with the Akatsuki at all?" Sasuke gingerly sat down on the bed once he had finished getting dressed.

"I joined the Akatsuki because they are powerful, they could help me reach my goals. I have no real attachment to them, and their dangerous. Since you're helping me, I can help you. I'm in the perfect position for this." Naruto sighed.

"So, where I am supposed to be getting this valuable intel from? I can't just tell them it's from you."

"I don't know, that's your problem. Think of something." Sasuke stared down at the ash pile that had previously been his Akatsuki robe. "I wish I had thought of this plan before I decided to burn that robe. Oh well, I always hated that thing anyway." They both laughed a little bit at the irony. "Ready to go?"

"Ready as I'll ever be I guess." They headed out of the cave. It was a dark night, it had stopped raining but the clouds were thick across the night sky. Naruto took Sasuke's hands and pulled him close. "Be careful Sasuke. Come back to me." Sasuke cupped Naruto's face in his hands, and put his forehead against his.

"You won't lose me Naruto, not after we've come this far." A single tear slid down Naruto's cheek. Sasuke wiped it away. They kissed one last time before parting ways.

"Sasuke, one last thing...It's kind of soggy, but here." Naruto handed Sasuke the photo of team seven. They gave each other one final nod, and then disappeared into the darkness.


	6. Introspection

Nel here, sorry it has been a little while, life got in the way! I also took some time to decide what direction to go with the story, hope y'all like it!

xxx

It had only been a short time, but Sasuke had already put quite a bit of distance between him and the cave, as he rounded a corner on the mountain path he slid to a stop. His companion leaned casually against the rock face.

"So, that was killing him, huh?" Sasuke crossed his arms and glared at the sarcastic comment.

"Things have changed."

"No kidding." He rolled his eyes. "It's normal to make out with the person you swore to kill. Happens all the time. So, what's the new plan?" They began walking down the path together.

"We are going to take down the Akatsuki." His companion chuckled.

"Maybe you should kiss them." Sasuke stopped walking; he punched out to the side. It connected solidly with the shoulder of the man standing next to him. He flew into the rock face. Sasuke continued walking. After getting unstuck from the rock face he had to jog to catch back up to Sasuke.

"Glad I wasn't on the cliff side." He muttered under his breath. "So, how are we going to accomplish this goal? And where is your robe?"

"Forget about the robe. As far as killing the Akatsuki we will just take out whoever we can without getting noticed, and gather intel on the rest which we will pass on to Naruto."

"I see, so you are going to do intel drops to the love cave, are you?"

"Suigetsu…" Sasuke growled his name. "Don't make me punch you again."

He smiled sarcastically, showing his shark like teeth. "Whoa, you actually used my name, you must be serious." Suigetsu went flying into the rock face.

Sasuke shook his head as he continued walking. "Idiot."

"What the hell Sasuke! Hey, slow down!" He continued to launch curses at Sasuke as he picked rubble from the mountain side out of his hair.

Suigetsu had been tagging along with Sasuke for the last few months. He had been stuck in one of Orochimaru's laboratories for as long as he could remember. One day Sasuke had swooped in and broke him out, saving his life. With Orochimaru dead he probably would've starved to death. Besides owing Sasuke his life, he had his own interests; he wanted to get all the swords from the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Sasuke was the best way to accomplish that goal, he was incredibly strong. He had just started being able to keep up with Sasuke when they trained, or at least that's what he thought. In the few moments of the battle he watched between Sasuke and Naruto he had come to realize he was dead wrong. He couldn't see very clearly from the distance he had been at, but he didn't need to be close to know that Sasuke hadn't even been showing him a fraction of his power when they sparred. They had moved so fast. He was kind of glad it hadn't turned into an all-out fight to the death. He was actually pretty fond of Sasuke, even though Sasuke never really talked…and when he did he rarely said anything nice. Yet, he trusted him with his life. As they had spent time traveling together it had turned into more than just getting the swords, he wanted to see Sasuke's plans fulfilled, whatever those plans might be. He had come to view Sasuke as a friend.

Suigetsu hadn't thought that Sasuke had anyone he truly considered a friend in this world. As far as he could tell the only thing Sasuke had was his all-consuming rage and hatred. He had never mentioned anyone special to him, but Naruto had blown all of that out of the water. He had taken it a step further; he had proven that there was a person in this world that Sasuke loved, deeply. He could barely get Sasuke to talk to him about the weather, never the less get him to change his mind about something this serious. He was considering trying to kiss him, but he had a feeling it wouldn't work out as well for him as it had for Naruto.

"So…who exactly is this Naruto guy?" Suigetsu asked hesitantly, he wasn't sure how Sasuke would react to being asked about it.

"An old teammate."

"Is that all?"

"Why do care so much?"

"Because I am your current teammate…" Sasuke didn't respond. "I've just never seen anyone have such an effect on you. I mean, you went from being dead set on killing him, to kissing the guy and you expect me to not wonder who this dude is?"

"You jealous or something?" Sasuke had a smirk on his face, but Suigetsu couldn't see it. Sasuke didn't need to turn around to know what look he had on his face, but to Sasuke's surprise Suigetsu didn't overreact like he normally did.

"I just…I mean, are you sure that this is what you want to do now? I will follow you either way, but I want to make sure you are certain of your choice. This means not destroying the Leaf, not getting your revenge. Are you really willing to let all that go? All for one person? Is Naruto really that special?" Sasuke stopped walking.

"We made a deal."

"We made a deal…seriously…you have got to get better at this whole communication thing." He frowned and let out a sigh. "I don't know what I was expecting. Let's just keep going. I hope you know what you are doing."

As Sasuke walked he thought about what Suigetsu had said. Was he sure about this? He trusted Naruto to follow through on his word, but everything had happened very quickly. He was walking a totally opposite path from the one he had been walking mere hours before. Was he really willing to change everything for Naruto? Or was he just acting impulsively, just caught up in the moment? He was so uncertain of himself, normally it was so easy for him, he just knew what he wanted and would stop at nothing to get it, no sacrifice was too great, and then, he couldn't kill Naruto. That had changed everything, for the first time there was a sacrifice that was too great. The thing he had wanted to accomplish so badly or at least he thought he had wanted so badly had come to a screeching halt in an instant. He definitely hadn't been expecting Naruto to tell him he loved him and to kiss him, he had been even more surprised to find himself kissing back…had he just been reacting, had an adrenaline packed moment gotten the best of him? Did he truly return Naruto's feelings? Everything he had said to Naruto in those moments had been genuine, he had meant every word. Now that his emotions had died down did he still feel that way? He hadn't been able to bring himself to verbally return Naruto's feelings, Naruto had freely expressed his love, but he couldn't. Was it just lust, a fleeting moment of weakness? Or was he madly in love with that boy? Sasuke clenched his teeth in frustration. He didn't have to decide, not yet anyway, for now the ball was in his court, and he could still choose which team he was going to play for. This whole thing was giving him a splitting headache.

xxx

 _Sasuke must be pretty far by now...please be careful._ Naruto thought to himself as they prepared to head back and meet Kakashi and Sakura.

"So, do you think they had any luck?" Naruto asked trying to take his mind of Sasuke.

"I like to think so, but we will know soon enough. Thankfully, it is a clear day. Traveling will be much easier." Sai smiled. "We should be able to make it back to the rendezvous spot by midday if we keep a good pace."

"Let's do it then." The two took off at a brisk pace.

xxx

"What is taking them so long!" Sakura paced back and forth.

"I'm sure they will be here soon." Kakashi didn't look up from his book when he answered. Sakura sighed and sat down next to Kakashi.

"I wonder if they found anything..."

After about another hour of waiting Sai and Naruto came bounding into the clearing. They both slid to a halt breathing heavily. Naruto flopped on the ground, letting out a big sigh.

"Ugh, I'm exhausted."

"Naruto! Sai!" Sakura ran over to them. "Naruto! Where are all your things?"

"He lost them." Sai answered with his ever present smile.

"Hey! I didn't lose anything, my pack broke and I had to leave everything behind!" Naruto yelled angrily. The three continued to bicker back and forth when Kakashi walked up.

"Glad you finally made it." Kakashi closed his book. "Let's do a quick debrief and then we will head back. I'll go first. The first location we tried wasn't any good, if it had ever been an Akatsuki hide out it was a very long time ago. The second location is a bit better news, we didn't find the Akatsuki, but it looked like they left in a hurry, which means we are getting close. We gathered what information we could from the hide out and then headed back here. What about you two?"

"The one I checked out was about the same as your first one." Sai said.

"Same for me." Naruto chimed in behind him.

"Well, at least we have an idea of the direction they are heading then. This mission wasn't a complete failure. Let's get back and report our findings to Lady Tsunade."

"Right." They all said in unison, and started back toward the Leaf.

For a while they all traveled together in silence, keeping a quick pace to get back to the village as soon as possible. The weather was good and there wasn't a high likely hood of encountering enemies so they were making good time. Naruto was lost in his own thoughts. He was having a hard time believing everything Sasuke had told him about the elders of the leaf, or more like he didn't want to. It broke his heart to see Sasuke in pain and to think it was the elders of their village who were responsible. He meant what he said. He would help Sasuke bring those responsible to justice, but they had to do it the right way. It wasn't going to be easy that he was positive of. At least they were going to do it together, he would never have to fight against Sasuke again, knowing that was more comforting to him than anything else, he hadn't realized how much it had been weighing on him, he felt as light as a feather. Now, he had to come up with something to tell Lady Tsunade about where his intel was coming from. Luckily, he still had time to do that. This whole thing still felt somewhat unreal, like a dream. It had all happened so fast, and had been so intense, now that things had calmed down he was struggling to take in everything that had happened. It took every ounce of control he had to not explode with happiness. Especially when he thought about their time in the cave, he smiled as he replayed the memory.

"What are you smiling about?" Sakura's voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"What? Uh, nothing."

"It didn't look like nothing."

"Just looking forward to getting back to the village."

"Is that so, any particular reason you are so eager to get back to the village?" Sakura gave Naruto a sly smile.

"It's been almost a week since I've had any ramen! I'm going straight to Ichiraku's!" He smiled and laughed.

"Naruto! Do you ever think about anything else?" She gave him a frustrated look as Sai and Kakashi chuckled.

 _...She doesn't know the half of it..._ Naruto thought to himself. It was strange to think that a few days ago he had been so into Sakura, he would have done anything to be with her, and now the idea of being with anyone other than Sasuke seemed stupid, even gross. He wondered if that's how Sakura felt about Sasuke too, she had also been into him, and had never even given him the time of day. It would probably break her heart when she found out about them. He felt bad, but at the same time the idea her trying to get with Sasuke made his blood boil. He chuckled to himself at the realization that he was the jealous type. He would protect the man he loved with his life, he would stand by him until his last breath. Nothing was official at this point, but after the night they spent together they obviously weren't just friends anymore. He wished they could have spent more time together, there was so much he wanted Sasuke to know, so much he needed to know, he needed know that Naruto's feelings were never going to change, it wasn't just an emotional, irrational choice, he was committed. Now...how could he tell him...

"That's it!" Naruto shouted out loud. The team turned and looked at him.

"What is it Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

 _"Shit, shit, shit, shit! I didn't mean to say that out loud!"_ Naruto scrambled to think of an excuse for his sudden outburst. "That's it! I can't go any farther, I have to go to the bathroom!"

 _"_ Alright, it's getting late anyways, let's stop for the night." At Kakashi's direction they all hopped down out of the trees. "We will leave at dawn. We should be able to make it back to the village before lunch. Start setting up for the night everyone, and Naruto, go to the bathroom."

Naruto disappeared into the bushes. Once he was out of sight he slumped against a tree and let out a sigh of relief. "I have got to be more careful, at this rate I'll be found out for sure. Tomorrow we will be back to the village, I just have to make it till then."


	7. Step One

They made it back to the village before lunch time, just as Kakashi had anticipated.

"Finally! Yes! See you guys later!" Naruto took off as soon as they passed through the big gate leading into the village.

"Naruto! Wait! We still have to report to…Lady Tsunade…" The last part of Kakashi's sentence was said to thin air because Naruto was gone. "Hhh, that boy."

"Hrmp, he always takes off like that, what is up with him!" Sakura cracked her knuckles. "When I find him, he is going to regret running off like that."

"Has Naruto seemed to be acting weird to you since we met back up? Kakashi glanced over at Sakura as they made their way to see Tsunade.

"Now that you mention it, he has seemed different. He has still been weird, but different than his normal weird. Does that make sense?" Kakashi nodded. "Do you think something happened?"

"Possibly, Sai, do you have anything to say on the matter?"

"I don't know if I'm the best person to consult about matters such as this." He chuckled a little bit. "I'm still learning the basics." They went the rest of the way in silence.

xxx

"Where is Naruto!?" Tsunade slapped her hands down on her desk.

"He took off as soon as we got back to the village my lady." Sakura answered.

"To go get ramen no doubt. That boy, will he ever learn?" She let out a sigh as she sat down. She leaned forward, elbows on her desk, fingers intertwined. "Very well, give me the full report."

xxx

Naruto had run straight home, he had something he needed to do. He had kicked his shoes off and put water in the pot to boil. After getting into more comfortable clothes he had poured the hot water into an instant ramen cup. He was sitting at his kitchen table staring at a blank piece of paper. He didn't know where to start. How could he fit all of his feelings into one letter?

 _Sasuke, I love you._

No. He crumpled up the paper and threw it toward the trashcan. He took a bite of ramen, and repeated the process a few times before having a beginning he was okay with. He decided against using names in case someone found the letter.

 _I hope you everything is going okay and you are staying safe. There are a few things I feel you need to know. That night out on the lake, and the time we spent together after you carried me to camp, everything I said to you I meant 100%. This time apart has only served to strengthen my feelings. I am totally crazy about you and I want you to know that it will never change. I will love you with my dying breath. Ever since we were kids we never got along, but I see now, it was just the way I used to get close to you. I didn't understand my feelings and that was the only way I knew how to express them. I know now, and I am never going to let you go again._

 _I will fulfill the promise I made to you that night, I don't know how, not yet, but I've never gone back on my word, and this isn't going to be the thing that makes me. I've been trying to think of different options, because it is really important that it gets done right. Together I am sure that we will be able to figure it out._

 _I want you by my side, through thick and thin, I can't bear to think about living life without you in it. When I close my eyes I see you, feel your touch against my skin, I relive that night all over again. Only to open my eyes to loneliness. Suke, I love you. You mean more to me than my own life. I will continue to make plans; I hope to see you soon. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, I hope that's true because I really miss you. I think I am a bigger supporter of birds of a feather flock together though._

 _Stay safe; know you have my heart, even if you don't want it, it will always be yours. Just know if we move forward, I am a jealous man._

\- _Ruto_

It was late afternoon by the time he finished. Naruto read over the letter what seemed like a hundred times. He hoped it was good enough. He grabbed a cloak out of his closet, put on his shoes and headed out. The sun was beginning to set as he made his way to the old dead tree they had agreed to make their communication post. The sunset painted the sky in beautiful pinks, oranges, and yellows, animals of all types were out looking for their dinner before dusk turned to dark. It was serene. Naruto let his fingers drag across the dried out bark of the hollowed out tree. He pulled the letter out of his pocket. He read it one more time before strapping it to the handle of a kunai. He lodged it into the inside of the tree; he tried to get it in a place that wouldn't get wet if it rained.

"I hope you get this soon." Naruto said to himself. He sighed and leaned against the tree. As a cool breeze blew by he pulled his hood up over his head. He watched as the sun fell further below the tree line. A few small rays of light still penetrated through the trees. Naruto's mood was the exact opposite of the beautiful evening, he didn't feel peaceful and serene. His thoughts and emotions churned like a raging ocean. This whole situation was troublesome. He needed more details about what happened with the elders, who knows what they could be involved with now if they were responsible for such horrible acts in the recent past. There had to have been other options. Naruto clenched his teeth, thinking about the atrocities that had occurred made his anger flare. He needed to find out more. He needed to get into the Anbu's files. There had to be more information in there. Easier said than done, but at least he had his first step, there was no time to waste. He would find a way into the Anbu headquarters, no matter what.

xxx

"Well, here we are." Suigetsu walked up next to Sasuke. They both stood outside the entrance to the Akatsuki's current hideout. Sasuke looked at him out of the corner of his eye. He walked inside, Suigetsu close on his heels.

"So, you've decided to return." The deep voice had a challenging tone to it.

"I had some things to take care of." Sasuke answered callously.

"So you did. Have you made up your mind then?"

"I will destroy the Leaf, whatever it takes. Nothing will stand in my way." Sasuke's answer was unwavering.

"Good, glad to know you're committed. By the way, while you were out finding yourself did you manage to divert those pesky Leaf ninja off our trail like I had requested of you?" The masked man emerged from the shadows into the candle light.

"I'm not a child. It should be a while before they realize they are following a dead end." A maniacal laugh came from behind the mask.

"Good, that should give us time to implement our plans. Zetsu!"

"Yeeessss." The creepy half white, half black plant man appeared from the ground.

"Fill them in on the plan and give them their orders."

"As you wish Tobi."

"I have things to attend to. It will be some time before we are able to meet again. Until then." With that, he disappeared.

"Well Zetsu?" Sasuke let out a sigh of annoyance and made himself comfortable on a shelf of rock in the side of the cave. Knowing Zetsu he would take his sweet time filling him in. What a pain, people really were bothersome. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the cave wall. He let his thoughts drift to Naruto…he wondered what he was doing right now. Probably eating ramen, at this point, even that sounded better than listening to Zetsu's voice for the next few hours. Tch. He frowned. This whole thing was stupid. Stupid and annoying.


	8. Mission is Go

Nel here, hope y'all are enjoying. Things are about to get intense, so I hope you are ready for an action packed chapter! I had a lot of fun writing it!

xxx

Naruto pulled the black mask down over his face. It had been weeks since he had put the note in the tree, he checked every day since then, it was still there. He hadn't checked today, he had been too busy preparing for this night. He had been planning this night since he had placed that note. Tonight, was the night he broke into the Anbu black ops headquarters. He had spent countless hours on surveillance, watching their patterns. He had spent time talking with former members, learning everything he could to increase his chances of success. He had used a transformation jutsu when talking with people, so that no one would know he was the one asking questions. He would tell them he was writing an article for the Leaf on the contributions and importance of the Anbu. He had come to find that there was a lot of unpleasant rumors surrounding Danzo, the head of the Anbu. It was time he had a taste of his own medicine. Naruto was dressed in all black. No skin showed, not a strand of hair, he had made sure that his mask sat far enough away from his face so that his eyes couldn't be seen. He would succeed. This was about more than just Sasuke now; it was time that the power shifted. The age of these elders was over.

Naruto made his way through the forest. He moved swiftly and quietly. Every movement had a purpose. He had picked this night because there was no moon, he completely melted into the darkness. As he neared the complex he stopped just at the edge of the forest.

"Multi-shadow clone jutsu." He said under his breath. Instantly 30 clones appeared, he split them into three groups and instructed them to attack the far side of the building in 10 minutes exactly. They were his distraction. They had all disappeared into the night. They had strict instructions that no matter the cost, their identities could not be discovered. At the very beginning of his planning he had snuck into the room that stored the building plans for the entire village. He had reviewed the blueprints for the complex and committed them to memory. He was going to enter as close to the record room as possible. His goal was to get in and out before they even had a chance to suspect the people they were fighting was just the diversion.

"And 3, 2, 1." Right on schedule the watchman began their shift change. 30 seconds until the diversion. A scream of pain ripped into the deadly quite night from the far side of the complex.

"Sage mode." In seconds he had made it to the complex. He talked himself though his plan in his head as he went. … _Second floor, third window to the right_ … He squatted on the wall next to the window, clinging to the stone with his chakra. He jimmied it. He landed silently in the hallway. … _Staircase down the hall and to the left…four flights down…_ He checked around the corner before proceeding. There was one guard posted to the door to the record room. Naruto climbed onto the ceiling using his chakra. He squatted in the corner over the doorway.

"Multi-shadow clone jutsu." Three clones appeared and dropped to the floor. They threw a smoke bomb and went running into the hallway going the opposite direction of the record room. The guard banged on the record room door, two more Anbu appeared. Two pursued down the hall, the third ran right past Naruto. Naruto jumped into the hall and disappeared into the record room before the smoke cleared. He made his way to the letter U. He started searching through the file cabinets until he found the section on Uchiha. Anything that looked relevant he took. He took the information out of the folder and replaced it with blank paper. The less disturbed it looked the better. Once everything he thought he might need was in his pack, he went to the section with the personal files; it had the identities of all of the Anbu, present and past. He left the top drawer just barely open; it contained all of the current Anbu member's files. Now, when they did check to see if anything had been tampered with, and they would, they were Anbu after all. They would be so busy worrying about who knew the identities of all the Anbu to notice some missing files about the Uchiha's that were many years old. He made his way back to the window he had come in through. He did his best to get rid of any signs of tempering. He summoned a few more shadow clones. As he made his way toward the roof he would send a shadow clone down each hallway first in the opposite direction he wanted to go, sending anyone nearby chasing after the intruder. Within moments Naruto was onto the roof. Before they even had time to realize he was an enemy he was off the roof and into the woods. He used his shadow clones for cover.

Once he had put some distance between him and the complex he circled wide and headed back toward the village. As soon as he was sure he couldn't be tracked he recalled all his shadow clones. Before he reentered the village he stripped off all of his black clothes, and put his white cloak on. Once inside he threw all the black stuff in the trash, making sure it was well buried underneath other trash. The cool night air kissed his skin, his cloak flowing behind him as he walked. Once he got back to his room he looked at the clock. It was a few minutes after 2am. The whole thing had only taken about an hour. He had been in and out in less than 20 minutes. Everything had gone according to plan. The rebirth of the Leaf started now. He put the backpack with the documents under his bed and went to sleep.

xxx

Everything had been going crazy and then suddenly stopped. It had all happened right on shift change and had been over in less than 20 minutes. There was no sign that they had even hurt the enemy. A few of them had been wounded and there were plenty of kunai and shuriken scattered all over the place but other than that it was as if they had been fighting ghosts. No one had seen the enemy either, it was a pitch dark night, and the enemy had been fully cloaked in black. The most anyone saw was flashes of black. Whoever they were they were fast. By the time they had regrouped and were ready to launch a formal attack it had all been over. This was clearly a well planned, coordinated attack. They were after something specific. Danzo had been furious when it had been reported that the intruders had gotten away. He had shot off a few curse words, yelled, and told one of the Anbu to report this incident to the Hokage at once. It was, after all, a serious breach of security. Since no one had gotten a good look at the enemy, and they had not worn any markings, unless something turned up they had no way of knowing who had attacked. Danzo had ordered that every inch of the complex be searched. After he had finished issuing orders he had left to have an emergency meeting with the Hokage and other elders. Nothing like this had ever happened, sure there had been attacks, but no one had ever made it so far. Things had just changed.

xxx

"Lady Tsunade...Lady Tsunade. Wake up."

"Hmm, wa, nh, huh?" Tsunade fought to open her eyelids. She groaned when she saw the clock, it was just a little after 2:30am. "What is it Shizune? This had better be important." Shizune sighed.

"Would I ever wake you up if it wasn't?"

"Very well." Tsunade drug herself out of bed and began getting dressed. "What's going on?"

"It's the Anbu, there's been an incident."

"An incident? What is that supposed to mean?"

" I don't know, he wouldn't tell me anything else. All I know is that Danzo is on his way here, he has called for an emergency meeting with the elders."

"Danzo! I don't like the sound of this. Let's get going." Shizune nodded.

Danzo arrived just before three, the other two elders, Homura and Koharu, arrived shortly thereafter.

"Alright Danzo, what's the meaning of this? Why have you summoned us here? And at this hour!" Tsunade hated to be woken up, it didn't leave her in a very lenient mood.

"Something dire has happened."

"Well out with it then!"

"The complex was attacked."

"What!" Tsunade's displeasure evident on her face. The two elders gasped.

"It happened just an hour ago. But the attack is not the most disturbing part. They got inside, and they escaped. Without a single casualty. I have the Anbu scouring every inch of the complex now to try and figure out what they were after."

"This is very troubling." Koharu said.

"Indeed." Homura agreed.

"It would have to be ninja of incredible skill to be able to pull this off, and with such ease. Do we have any idea who could have done this?" Tsunade asked.

"There are many possibilities, and none of the men saw any distinctive features of any of the intruders. All of the ones that were seen were cloaked fully in black, and no identifying marks on their uniforms." Danzo admitted.

"They were careful. Clearly this was planned for a while."

"Yes, they attacked right at the change of shifts. They had done their homework."

"Do you think it's someone we know, and that's why they put so much effort into concealing their identity?"

Danzo sighed. "Perhaps, but it would be to anyone's advantage to do so, we can't assume anything. A report should be coming in any moment on the findings from the search." As if on cue a black op appeared.

"The initial report sir." He handed the report to Danzo and disappeared.

"Hmmm." Danzo rubbed his chin as his read. "It would appear that all the evidence suggests that they were attempting to break out a prisoner. All of the intruders that penetrated the complex appeared to be heading toward the area where we hold prisoners. The attack outside was just a diversion so that the others could get inside. The best guess is that when they realized they would be unable to succeed they retreated."

"That seems too easy." The other two elders nodded their heads in agreement with Tsunade. Something that rarely happened. "There plan was far to put together. To organized. This is what they want us to think. We're missing something. I don't like it. Danzo, keep looking and send me updates regularly. We need to get to the bottom of this. Fast." The other three nodded in agreement.

xxx

Naruto had taken his time showering and getting breakfast the next morning, he was sitting at his kitchen table intently focusing on the documents he had acquired. What he was learning saddened him. Ever since the battle between Madara Uchiha and the First Hokage there had been discourse between the village the Uchiha clan. Everyone was always suspicious of them, thinking that they were plotting and planning. It was no wonder they had actually planned a coup. It just seemed like an avoidable situation, why did so many people have to die. Naruto was going to make sure that as long as he lived nothing like this happened again. He would become Hokage, and he would change the Leaf for the better. After a few hours of reading he decided to go out and take a break. He hadn't checked the hollowed out tree in almost two days. He peaked out of his window, it was raining. He hadn't even noticed when it started, it looked like it had been for a little while. Lucky him. It would wash away any potential evidence he had left behind last night, it would also wash away his scent. He grabbed a coat from his closet. As he made his way to the tree the weather continued to worsen. It reminded him of the afternoon he had fought Sasuke. It had poured. Even though it was only mid afternoon, the storm made it dark and gloomy. Naruto peaked into the tree, he froze. A shuriken was stuck where the kunai had previously been. Sasuke had been here. He didn't even bother to go get supplies, he took off towards the cave.

xxx

It was about four in the morning when Sasuke had made it too the tree that they had decided to use as a communication post. It was a dark night, no moon. When he reached down to place his shuriken in the tree he had been surprised to find a kunai already there. A letter wrapped around the handle. It must be important for Naruto to have left a note. He put his shuriken in the tree and headed back to the cave where he would be able to read the letter. He had left Suigetsu to wait a goodly distance away from the cave. If Naruto made it before he had to leave he wanted privacy. It had taken a while before the opportunity had presented itself to do an intel drop. For now it worked to his advantage for both sides to think he was on their side, both sides protecting him. It had been weeks and he hadn't made a decision. It was turning out to be more difficult than he had expected.

Once he had made it back to the cave he got comfortable on the bed and unwrapped the letter from the kunai handle. It had clearly been there for a while but it was still legible.

 _I hope you everything is going okay and you are staying safe. There are a few things I feel you need to know. That night out on the lake, and the time we spent together after you carried me to camp, everything I said to you I meant 100%. This time apart has only served to strengthen my feelings. I am totally crazy about you and I want you to know that it will never change. I will love you with my dying breath. Ever since we were kids we never got along, but I see now, it was just the way I used to get close to you. I didn't understand my feelings and that was the only way I knew how to express them. I know now, and I am never going to let you go again._

 _I will fulfill the promise I made to you that night, I don't know how, not yet, but I've never gone back on my word, and this isn't going to be the thing that makes me. I've been trying to think of different options, because it is really important that it gets done right. Together I am sure that we will be able to figure it out._

 _I want you by my side, through thick and thin, I can't bear to think about living life without you in it. When I close my eyes I see you, feel your touch against my skin, I relive that night all over again. Only to open my eyes to loneliness. Suke, I love you. You mean more to me than my own life. I will continue to make plans; I hope to see you soon. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, I hope that's true because I really miss you. I think I am a bigger supporter of birds of a feather flock together though._

 _Stay safe; know you have my heart, even if you don't want it, it will always be yours. Just know if we move forward, I am a jealous man._

 _\- Ruto_

He read over the letter a few times. He hadn't been expecting that. Lightning cracked outside. The storm was in full force now. He wondered if Naruto was traveling in it. All sorts of things had gone through his head as he read the letter, the first part had made him happy, he had found himself biting his lower lip thinking back to that night. He had been surprised by the sincerity and level of commitment in the second part, Naruto was going at it with everything he had, every resource. It showed how much he truly cared. If Sasuke had had concerns about Naruto following through before, after reading this letter he didn't anymore. The last paragraph had prompted a typical Sasuke reaction. He had smirked, chuckled, and called Naruto an idiot. It was the last part that had made up Sasuke's mind. "...you have my heart, even if you don't want it...just know if we move forward, I am a jealous man." Naruto had made his intentions clear and given Sasuke the option to not pursue the relationship. _Jealous huh?_ Sasuke thought to himself as he contemplated the letter. _Now that's something I'd like to see..._

Sasuke shook his head. "Such a well written letter and yet he couldn't come up with better code names? Tch. Suke." Although he would never admit it, he liked it. Ruto on the other hand, not so much. He would have to think of something better to call him. He was glad Naruto had written this letter, because of it he was able to make up his mind. He hoped even more now that Naruto would make it to the cave, there were quite a few things he wanted to tell him, in person.

It had been a few hours, Sasuke was laying on the bed when he heard foot steps in the cave. He sat up. As the dark figure came into the candle light his heart sank.

"What are you doing here? I thought I told you to wait." Suigetsu crossed his arms and frowned.

"I have been waiting. We don't have any more time to waste waiting for your love toy to show up. We are supposed to be meeting up with Deidara he is going to start to wonder if we don't arrive soon." Sasuke crossed his arms and gave him a blank look. He knew he was right. They would just half to stop in again on their way back.

"I'll write everything down in a scroll and then we'll go." Suigetsu nodded his agreement. As soon as the scroll was complete they headed out into the stormy night.

xxx

Naruto had run without any breaks until he got to the cave. Water cascaded off of him like waterfalls. It had taken him longer than he would've liked to get there because of the weather. When he entered the cave he cursed under his breath.

"Damn, missed him." He saw the scroll setting on the desk, he grabbed it and sat down on the bed to read. The first thing he saw made him laugh.

 _Suke and Ruto? That's the best you could come up with?_

At least he knew Sasuke had gotten his letter. He was pleasantly surprised by the humor laced comment. The rest of what was written down wasn't so humorous.

 _Madara is leading this whole ridiculous crusade. He is planning to resurrect the 10 tails, which is what all of the other tailed beast came from. If he accomplishes this it will be catastrophic. There is nothing that can compete with the combined power of all the tailed beast. He will destroy the whole world. I don't care what he thinks, there is no way he will be able to control that thing. He had sent me on a mission to go with Deidara to as he put it, "Take care of some pesky ninja who are getting a little to close." There is much more he is not telling me, I'm certain. The plan is to take care of Deidara on this mission. That would leave only three Akatsuki left. They have been substantially weakened but I don't think Madara, aka Tobi really cares. They were just pawns he was using to gather up the tailed beasts. He never cared if they lived or died. I have spent a little bit of time sparing with him, he is very powerful, it is going to take a lot to bring him down...but together we should be able to figure it out._ Naruto smiled at the reference to his letter. The scroll continued on a little more, giving details about a creepy shark guy named Kisame and his chakra eating sword, and information about where the current hideout was, along with words of caution about trying to do surveillance on it. The last line said he would try to stop back by in about a weeks time. Naruto ripped of the first line and last line off of the scroll. That he would keep, the rest he would give to Lady Tsunade. He was going to need to think of the reason behind him having this intel now. Things were about to get more difficult. His stomach growled. He was beginning to wish he had packed some supplies. He headed back out into the storm.


	9. Blood, Death, and Tears

By the time Naruto made it back to the village he felt like he was going to starve to death. He had headed straight for Ichiraku's. The horrible storm he had been traveling in the last day or two was finally letting up. He slurped down the last of his ramen. He was exhausted. He told himself he could sleep after he took this scroll to Granny Tsunade. He still didn't know what he was going to tell her. He put his mind to it as he worked his way to her office. Before long he was standing outside the doors, two Anbu stood guard.

"I'm here to see Granny Tsunade." One of the Anbu disappeared into the room. A few seconds later the door opened for Naruto to come in.

"What is it Naruto?" She looked as tired as he did.

"I have something I need to talk to you about. You seem tired, did something happen?" He already knew what happened.

"Is that what you came to talk to me about? How tired I look. It's nothing you need concern yourself with. What do you really want to talk about?" He took a breath.

"I have intel on the Akatsuki for you." He handed her the scroll.

"What do you mean?" She opened the scroll and began reading it. "Where did you get this?"

"Well it's kind of a long story."

"Tell me Naruto." She gave him a stern look.

"The mission you sent team seven on awhile back, well, I met this guy while we were traveling. He has been working for the Akatsuki since they were founded, making weapons for them and other odd jobs. The only reason he talked to me at all is because he saw my headband. He used to live in the Leaf. Ever since the new leader, Tobi took over, the Akatsuki he had worked for in the beginning and believed in doesn't exist anymore. He was worried for the safety of the village and the world. So, he told me he was willing to be our man on the inside and report back on anything he heard that was worthwhile."

"Why are you just telling me this now?"

"Well, I wasn't sure if he was going to follow through on his word, I figured I would come to you the first time I heard from him. Here I am." He was trying to keep a cool face, but his insides were in knots.

She raised an eyebrow towards him. "Does this man have a name?"

"I promised him I wouldn't tell anyone his identity. Please just trust me on this granny. The intel is good."

"Very well, good job Naruto." He nodded and left the room.

"Shizune, summon the elders at once."

"Yes my lady."

xxx

"It was Naruto who got this?" It was Danzo.

"That's right." Tsunade confirmed.

"I don't like this. We don't know enough." It was Homura.

"I agree, that boy needs a tighter leash." Koharu chimed in.

"What has Naruto done to deserve this mistrust?" Tsunade asked angrily. "He has done nothing but help the village and when he asks for our trust on one matter you refuse."

"Very well, we will leave him be, but allow me to post an Anbu to him. To oversee." Tsunade clenched he fist at Danzo's request. She didn't like it, but she conceded.

"Very well, but tell him he is not to interfere." Danzo nodded and the meeting was dismissed.

xxx

When Suigetsu and Sasuke finally caught up with Deidara he had complained for the entirety of the next day about how they had been late. He was so weird, with his mouth hands, and constant babbling's about art. Sasuke was looking forward to killing him. He had sent Suigetsu on ahead to "scout" out the enemy. What he was really supposed to do was clear the area so that he could take on Deidara without having to worry about needless casualties. He was hoping he could just sneak up on him and slit his throat, but he knew even Deidara wouldn't let his guard down enough for him to that. It had taken about three days in total to get to the supposed location of the "pesky" ninja Madara had sent them after.

When they came out of the forest Suigetsu was standing there waiting for them.

"Ready to get this party started?" Suigetsu looked at Sasuke.

"Is the area clear?"

"Not a soul within 10 miles." Suigetsu said.

"How did you get them to go?"

"Do you really want to know?" Suigetsu gave Sasuke a mischievous look.

Deidara gave them both confused looks. He still hadn't caught on to the fact that he was about to be on the wrong end of Sasuke's sword. Sasuke and Suigetsu gave each other a nod and they were moving, they had their swords drawn in the blink of an eye. Swinging full force towards Deidara, confusion, realization, and then rage flashed across his face. For being a primarily long distance fighter, he dodged quickly, but he had to put a lot more space between them if he was going to survive. He threw some clay bombs at his feet creating some smoke cover and forcing his two attackers to draw back momentarily.

Just when Deidara thought he had successfully put some space between them a foot connected with his back. Sasuke was too fast, he had made it behind Deidara in seconds. He smashed forcefully into the ground leaving a small crater. Suigetsu was standing back, sword sheathed.

"You seem to have this all under control. Since I did all the work of clearing the area, I am going to leave this too you." With that he disappeared into the forest.

Sasuke smirked. "Whatever." He walked over to Deidara.

"Damn you Sasuke." He coughed out some blood.

"I had expected you to be more difficult. Either my plan was really good, or you are extremely stupid. I don't think I have to tell you which option I think it is." Deidara started laughing maniacally.

"You actually think you are getting out of here alive? I would never let the likes of you kill me. I'm going out in style. My art is an explosion!" Sasuke didn't like the sound of that. He would just have to kill him before he had a chance to…express himself. Sasuke's sword was back in his hand. He plunged it into Diedara's chest. When he went limp Sasuke smirked. He turned to walk away when he heard Deidara laughing.

"GOTCHA!" He laughed uncontrollably. Sasuke was convinced. This guy was a total wackadoo. So much so that Sasuke had just used the word wackadoo to describe him. Deidara's whole body had become transparent. He was literally one giant bomb. This was bad. Sasuke took a moment to think. He walked over to his sword, leaned down and put one finger on it. He looked Deidara in the eyes and gave him his best smirk. Sasuke enjoyed how much it enraged him.

"Now DIE!" Sasuke sent an electrical charge through the sword. Now it was his turn to laugh as Deidara stared in shock when he didn't explode. Sasuke said two words.

"Lightning style." Electric charges rendered Deidara's explosives completely useless. He sent a powerful charge into Deidara in a steady stream. Deidara let out a blood curdling scream as the lightning cooked him from the inside out. Once his screams stopped Sasuke pulled his sword out and cut off his head for good measure. He watched as the head rolled off to the side.

"Tch, idiot." He slid his sword home. Now how was he going to explain this to Tobi…

xxx

The morning sun shone brightly, making for a beautiful traveling day. It was drawing close to a week since Sasuke's intel drop and Naruto had every intention of being at the cave when Sasuke came back. He didn't want to miss him again, it could be any period of time before he got to see him again if he missed him this time. He was going to have to be slick about leaving the village, an Anbu had been trailing him ever since he had brought the scroll to Granny Tsunade. Danzo's doing no doubt. Damn he really hated that guy. Naruto picked up the backpack he had filled with supplies and prepared to head out. He had gotten smarter since the last time. He had let his emotions get the best of him and experienced the consequences. As he walked through the town he turned down an ally where he couldn't be seen, he quickly made a shadow clone, and transformed himself into another person. His clone continued on the way he had been heading and the real him left out the side he had just entered. He gave himself a mental pat on the back when he saw the Anbu continue in pursuit of his clone. He was beginning to wonder if he had needed to be so careful when he broke into the headquarters. If they would fall for as juvenile a deception as this they probably never even noticed the barely open personnel file drawer. Not that anyone was going to come and ask him about it, so he would probably never know. Once he got a little ways outside of the village he released the transformation jutsu. He had set off at a brisk pace, his excitement to see Sasuke driving him forward ever more quickly. Time had seemed to drag by during the previous weeks, he had felt like he was living life in slow motion. Yet at the same time it seemed to fly as he continued to devise his master plan. The day when the current elders were no longer in power couldn't come soon enough.

Due to the nice weather and anxiousness to see Sasuke, Naruto had made to journey in half the time. It seemed extremely fast when compared to how long it had taken last time he had gone and had to travel through that wretched storm. Naruto had quickly checked to see if Sasuke had arrived yet, when he was sufficiently convinced that he had beat him, he had put his things down and had gone to sit out on the ledge that looked out over the way he had come. A slight breeze blew gently against his face, it tousled his hair. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back enjoying the sun on his face. It had been a while since he had felt this relaxed. This content. Probably laying all wrapped up with Sasuke was the last time he had felt this way. He smiled at the thought of seeing Sasuke again, and the idea of getting all tangled up with him again made his heart race and excitement course through him.

A deep gravelly voice that he instantly recognized had ripped him from his relaxed state. It turned his contentment into contempt. He didn't bother to get up or turn and look.

"So, this is where you come to meet your little informant." Danzo stopped a few feet away from where Naruto sat.

"What makes you think I don't just come here for the view?" Naruto couldn't keep his clear distaste for the man out of his voice.

"I don't know what you're playing at boy, but you can't out smart me." Naruto smiled to himself as his stood and turned to face Danzo. "I know it was you who broke into the headquarters. I'll admit, it took me a bit to figure it out, I nearly didn't, but just as I was about to give it up I figured it out. Everyone had said the enemy vanished like ghosts, and there was no physical evidence anywhere. I couldn't figure out how that was possible, and then I realized, there was one particular ninja in the village who was extremely proficient with shadow clones. Only one skilled enough to be able to maintain that many shadow clones for a coordinated attack. I don't think I need to tell you who." Naruto's face was expressionless.

"I suppose I should be flattered that you think me so skilled."

"Stop playing games!" Danzo shouted, his anger clearly rising. "The only thing I haven't been able to figure out is what you want with the identities of the Anbu operatives, but it doesn't matter now."

 _...So, they had fallen right into his trap..._ Naruto smirked inwardly. _It had been worth putting that fail safe in place after_ _all_...

"The only thing that made any sense was that you had sided with the enemy." Danzo flashed an evil smile. "That would also explain how you got that detailed bit of intel you brought to Tsunade." Naruto knew this was heading nowhere good, but he couldn't help but feel proud of himself for the masterful trick he had pulled off.

"I won't give up my informant and unlike you, I haven't sided with the enemy." Danzo sighed.

"You leave me no choice. I will have to put you down like the beast you are." Naruto gritted his teeth.

"Bastard. You're the only beast here. If anyone is going to be put down it's you." Naruto got into fighting stance. "So, you came all the way out here by yourself to confront me? I hope you're ready and have a back up plan."

"I came out here to kill you, no other plan is necessary. I simply will not fail. nine tails or not, you cannot defeat me."

"Glad to know you haven't shared your findings with anyone else, that means it will die here with you, and no one will know where to find your body. A suitable death for the likes of you!" Naruto's intense dislike of the man flowed forth as he charged. He had never anticipated the opportunity to kill Danzo would arise, and certainly not so soon, but he wasn't complaining. The force of their blows connecting pushed them both back, the shock wave causing the trees to lean and dirt to get thrown into the air. Danzo's block had been fast. Faster than expected, he was incredibly strong. Then again, he certainly hadn't held onto power this long by being weak. If Naruto was going to win he was going to have to be careful.

xxx

Sasuke saw a plume of dust fly into the air. Something or someone had just connected forcefully enough to cause the trees around him and Suigetsu to rustle. It was coming from the direction of the cave. There were few persons or things powerful enough to create that big of a shock wave and only one of those things would be in the area he was heading towards. Sasuke picked up the pace.

xxx

Danzo threw his cane away and Naruto let his cloak fly away into the wind. Danzo started to undue the large brace he wore on his arm. Naruto took the opportunity to gather nature chakra. When the last of the heavy contraption Danzo kept on his arm fell away it revealed a horrifying deformity. His arm was discolored and full of eyes...Uchiha eyes...Naruto felt his blood boil. He had all those people killed, and he benefited from it. They didn't need to die. He had used Itachi as a means to an end, and Itachi had played right into his hands. Naruto let his anger rage unchecked. He could feel the nine tails excitement and anticipation for the battle. It would be difficult to keep it at bay. At least no one was around if he did lose control. He would just have to make this quick.

"Sage mode." He charged. As he ran Danzo pulled the bandage back from his eye that he always kept covered, when he opened it Naruto saw there was another Uchiha eye, and Danzo was using the Sharingan, he was going to have to be extremely careful, this was proving more difficult by the second. He reached into his pouches and sent kunai flying. Danzo blocked them and was prepared for Naruto's attack, he blocked the powerful kick and threw Naruto back with a powerful punch of his own. Just as Naruto was about to go in for another attack he froze. Pain surged through his body, he could feel the nine tails trying to take over. Was this some kind of genjustu? Only a moment ago he had been in complete control. He grabbed his stomach as another bought of pain shot through his body, it forced him to take a knee. This was no genjutsu, something was wrong.

"Don't you understand boy. You cannot defeat me. I can control the nine tails, you have no defense against me. Once I extract the nine tails from you I will be able to do anything I want, and you will be dead. No one can save you." Danzo walked over to Naruto hunched over on the ground. He gave him a solid kick, it sent Naruto flying onto his back. It was all he could do to stay conscious from the pain of the nine tails starting to break free of the seal, he barely felt Danzo's kick. Danzo stood over him watching as his suffered, reveling in it. Naruto wanted nothing more than to kill the man where he stood but he couldn't overcome the pain. Danzo picked Naruto up by the throat with his deformed arm. He slammed him into the rock face, Naruto was helpless against his attacks as Danzo continued to slam him into the side of the mountain over and over again, despite his best efforts the world went black.

"That should keep you from causing me anymore trouble." Danzo let Naruto's lifeless form drop to the ground. He wiped Naruto's blood off of his hand. "Now I can extract the nine tails in peace. This seal may take some time to break completely."

xxx

When Sasuke and Suigetsu finally broke through the tree line and could get a clear line of sight on the cliff side Sasuke had come to a grinding halt, it was as if he had run into an invisible wall. He stood in shock. Suigetsu had slid to a halt behind him almost running into him. Sasuke knew Suigetsu was talking to him, but he wasn't listening. His eyes were glued to the scene in front of him. Danzo had Naruto by the throat and had just slammed him into the mountain side. Clearly not for the first time, a small crater had formed in the shape of Naruto's body. He had watched has Naruto's lifeless figure fell to the ground Danzo was cleaning Naruto's blood off of his hands. Sasuke lost it. He let out a yell, it was filled with all the emotions he never let show. Purple chakra exploded all around him, it blew Suigetsu back. As Sasuke yelled it grew, slowly taking shape, first bones appeared, then muscles and flesh, before long a giant humanoid chakra warrior had formed. Sasuke was completely cloaked inside of the beast. Danzo had turned when he heard the commotion. When Sasuke's yell subsided he locked eyes with Danzo, revealing the new form of his eyes, his Mangekyo Sharingan had awakened in both eyes.

"What luck, if it isn't Sasuke Uchiha, you've grown more powerful." Danzo smirked. "It will make killing you all the more enjoyable."

Sasuke let his emotions rampage, he wanted to feel them all, he would channel them into killing Danzo...painfully. He would spare no expense, show no mercy. Danzo would experience the consequences of laying his hands on something that belonged to a Uchiha.

"Sasunoo." He released his restraint and flew at Danzo. He smashed Danzo into the side of the mountain. "Do you really think you can fool my eyes?" Sasuke growled, he turned and looked at Danzo standing a few feet away, the fake Danzo his chakra warrior had pinned to the rock dissipated. Sasuke walked over to Naruto and lifted him gently into his arms. Holding his lifeless body only served to increase his anger, while ripping his heart in two.

"You will pay for this, with your life." Sasuke slowly walked towards Danzo, his warrior drawing its sword. It was then that Danzo realized.

"It's you...you're his informant." Sasuke said nothing. "Hm. It would seem I have been played for a fool. Quite the interesting development indeed." Danzo put everything he had into his next attack. He charged Sasuke. It was futile. Sasuke's warrior plunged his blade into Danzo to the hilt. Blood pooled under Danzo's body. There was no defense. In this fight, Danzo did not have the upper hand. Sasuke was stronger in every way. His stolen eyes gave him no advantage. The giant chakra humanoid disintegrated and Danzo fell to the ground. He lay face down in his own blood. Sasuke kicked him over onto his back and stared into his eyes, he wanted to watch as the light left, to be the last thing the bastard saw.

"You...y-you...you lo..." Before he could finish his sentence Danzo died. Sasuke didn't care to hear his last word anyways.

"Suigetsu." Sasuke turned to look at his companion that had made his way up the mountain as soon as Sasuke had picked up Naruto. Suigetsu had known better than to interfere. He had kept his distance until he saw the battle coming to an end. "Take his body and throw it into the ravine on the other side of the mountain. Keep his head. Suigetsu nodded.

Sasuke carried Naruto into the cave and laid him down gently on the bed. "Oh Naruto..." Sasuke leaned over him, his eyes filling with tears. "I can't lose you..." Sasuke's legs gave out as his emotions overwhelmed him and exhaustion overcame him. He knelt next to the bed, his forehead against Naruto's, he held tightly to one of Naruto's hands, he ran his other hand though Naruto's sunshine colored hair that was matted with blood. His tears came in rivers, every shallow breath Naruto took filled him with relief and torn him to pieces at the same time. Every time he started to get his emotions under control he would look at Naruto, hovering on the cusp of death and the tears would flow fresh. He wanted to do something but all he could do was hope Naruto had enough strength to come back to him. Sasuke whispered those words into Naruto's ear over and over again.

"Come back to me...please don't stop fighting...come back to me, come back..." Sasuke finally bit back his tears and gathered what strength he had left and started to carefully look over Naruto. Cleaning and bandaging any wounds. He had never wished he knew medical ninjutsu more in his entire life. He had washed all of the blood out of Naruto's hair and bandaged his head. Once he had finished Sasuke had pulled the chair up beside the bed, he sat watching over Naruto, waiting anxiously from one breath to the next. It was a few hours before Suigetsu appeared out of the darkness, carrying Danzo's head. It was wrapped in Naruto's cloak.

"Sasuke...you have to rest...you're about to collapse from exhaustion." Sasuke didn't move. "You'll be no good to him unconscious..."

"But what if he..." Sasuke couldn't even finish his sentence. "I'll watch over him. I promise I will wake you if there is any change." Sasuke chewed on his lower lip as he considered. He knew Suigetsu was right, but he didn't want to take his eyes off of Naruto for a single second. He put his head in his hands.

"Suigetsu, I can't...I...if anything happens to him..." Suigetsu placed a hand on Sasuke's back.

"I know. You don't need to say anything." Sasuke nodded. "Why don't you lay down with him. I'll watch over you both." Sasuke's limbs felt heavy as he slipped off his shoes and climbed into the bed next to Naruto. His movements sluggish and uncoordinated. It was like he was watching himself move. He wrapped Naruto in his arms, holding onto him as if his embrace was the only thing holding him to this world. He nuzzled close to Naruto's ear and gave it a little peck. He let out a sigh.

"You always did rush in and get in over your head. You're such a fool." Sasuke talked quietly into Naruto's ear. "I do not give you permission to die. You are a complete idiot, but you are my idiot. Mine. Do you hear me Naruto?" He paused for a moment when he started to lose his composure. "...I love you..." He whispered it gently into Naruto's ear. Choking back the sob that was trying to escape. Before long the weight of Sasuke's eyelids became too much, and sleep overcame him.


	10. On the Cusp

Nel here, hope you all enjoyed the last chapter! I know it was bit of an emotional rollercoaster and cliffhanger. I hope you were as captivated reading it as I was writing it. Here is the next portion! =]

xxx

Suigetsu looked at the two men lying in front of him. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself. You would never guess by looking at them that they were two of the most powerful shinobi alive. There was not a doubt in his mind that these two were going to change the world. They were bonded together, destined to do life together. Suigetsu made a promise to himself as he watched over the two lovers. He would protect them with his life. He believed in the world only they could create. He sighed and tried to get comfortable in the wooden chair. He glanced over at the cloak containing the head of their enemy. He smirked. The man had never stood a chance. Not against a lovers rage. Sasuke's desire to protect Naruto had awakened his power, his absolute despair at seeing his lover's lifeless body had brought his power to a whole new level. It made him reach to a depth he didn't know he could and pull power from it. It had been incredible. Suigetsu got goosebumps at the memory. He had stayed clear of Sasuke's path. Danzo had sealed his fate the moment he made Naruto his enemy.

It was late morning when Sasuke finally woke up; everything that had happened came flooding back to him. He gently caressed Naruto's cheek.

"Nothing much has changed. He is breathing a bit easier now than before though." Sasuke didn't respond, he was just glad Naruto hadn't slipped away from him during the night. A bit of color had returned to his cheeks, which was a good sign. Sasuke had a lingering ominous feeling deep in his chest. Something wasn't right, because of the nine tails Naruto carried within him he healed extremely fast. By now all of his wounds would be healed, there was something else going on. Naruto was fighting another battle within himself, that was what was keeping him in this comatose state.

"Suigetsu."

"Hm." It was strange for him to see such a gentle side of Sasuke, but it suited him.

"We have to get him back to the Leaf village, he needs help. He can't stay like this."

"I agree, but it's not like you can just walk into the village."

"But you can." Sasuke sat up in the bed. He stretched his aching muscles.

"Well, I guess, but…" Sasuke interrupted him.

"It's the only choice we have. We need to get moving." Sasuke pulled his shoes and grabbed a snack from Naruto's pack. "Help me get him on my back."

Normally Suigetsu would complain and argue about things but he knew this was not the time. Unless he wanted to end up like Danzo, he wasn't going to cross Sasuke in matters pertaining to Naruto. Within a few minutes they were on their way to the village.

xxx

The Anbu headquarters was in an uproar. The instant Danzo had died the tattoos every member had taken that prevented them from talking about him had disappeared. For now it was being kept from the general public but the leadership was distraught over the matter.

"Where is Naruto?!" Tsunade punched her desk. "We need all hands on deck to investigate the disappearance and death of Danzo!" Not that she cared, if fact she was glad the bastard was dead, but as Hokage it was her job to investigate. Team seven was one of the teams that would be searching for Danzo's body. Naruto's ability to use sage mode would be invaluable, except no one could find him! "Kakashi, Sakura, Sai, find Naruto and report back to me immediately for your mission."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade." The three replied in unison.

xxx

Traveling with Naruto on his back slowed Sasuke down but they were still making good time. If they kept on through the night they could make it too the village by late morning of the next day. Sasuke didn't dare take extra time to get Naruto back to the village. They ate on the move and only stopped when completely necessary. There had been no change in Naruto's condition.

xxx

"Any luck?" Kakashi asked. Both Sai and Sakura shook their heads no. "We've checked the entire village, where would he have gone? I've got a bad feeling about this."

"I'm worried. What if somethings happened to him?" Sakura chimed in.

"There's nothing we can do about it right now. We have other priorities. We will just have to hope he is okay and set our minds to the task before us." Kakashi sighed. "I don't like it any more than you do." They headed back to Tsunade to get their mission.

"Anything?" Tsunade asked as soon as the team entered.

"Nothing my lady." Sakura replied. Tsunade sighed.

"Very well." She was about to give them their mission when an Anbu appeared.

"My lady, I have a report on Naruto."

"Tell me!" Tsunade had forgotten that Danzo had been having Naruto tailed, now they would finally know where he was.

"I followed him out of the village almost two days ago now. Or at least that's what I thought, but I had been tricked. Late afternoon yesterday the shadow clone that I thought was Naruto proofed away. I have no idea of his actual whereabouts. I'm sorry my lady. I returned as quickly as I could. I picked up the pace even more when my tattoo disappeared." He paused for a moment. "Is Danzo really dead?"

"We are still confirming." Tsunade was disappointed. She was hoping for a good report. "Report back to headquarters right away." The Anbu gave a slight bow and vanished. So, Naruto had figured out about the Anbu following him, he had become quite the skilled ninja indeed. The concerning part was that he had taken the time to ditch him before he took off. This was not looking good.

"We can't spend any more time worrying about Naruto; he will show up sooner or later." The members of team seven nodded. "Your mission is to search a hundred mile radius in the direction of your last mission. Your team was the last to be in that area. You should be looking for any sign of where Danzo might have been heading or what he may have been doing. Of course, you should be keeping an eye out for any sign of his body as well. Report back immediately if you find anything. Dismissed."

Team seven didn't waste any time, they had already lost a few hours searching the village for Naruto. They spread out to cover more ground. As much as they didn't want to, they put Naruto to the back of their minds and turned their attention to the mission.

xxx

Darkness had fallen a few hours ago but Sasuke and Suigetsu pressed on. Sasuke's muscles ached from the hard travel and the extra weight of Naruto on his back. As much as he wanted to rest he was more worried about Naruto than his discomfort. Naruto's limp form only served to drive him forward. He was not about to lose Naruto because he needed to rest. Something caught Sasuke's attention in the sky.

"Suigetsu." They both stopped moving and tucked in close the trees using them for cover.

"What is it?"

"Something in the sky."

"Did you consider that maybe it's a bird?" Sasuke shot him a glare even though he knew he couldn't see it. After a few moments of waiting it passed by again, this time with the help of his Sharingan, Sasuke was able to identify it clearly. It was a bird, but not a normal bird. It was some kind of jutsu that had created it.

"We need to be careful, there are ninja ahead." Suigetsu nodded.

"I'll go scout it out." Sasuke took the opportunity to rest. He gently eased Naruto down onto the ground; he rested him against the trunk of a tree and sat down next to him. He chugged some water and wiped the sweat from his brow. He looked at Naruto. He seemed so peaceful, like he was sleeping. If only, Sasuke would give anything for him to just be sleeping. He took one of Naruto's hands.

"We're almost there Naruto. Just hold on." Suigetsu came bursting back out of the woods.

"It's Leaf ninja! There are three of them." Sasuke let out a sigh of relief. He was glad they weren't going to have to worry about fighting anyone.

"This may make things easier for us. We need them to find Naruto." Sasuke thought for a moment. He climbed to the top of a nearby tree and started making hand signs.

"Fire ball jutsu." Sasuke shot a giant fireball into the air. There's no way they would miss that.

xxx

Sai, Sakura, and Kakashi all looked up when the sky brightened.

"What was that?" Sakura looked at Kakashi.

"Looked like some type of jutsu, we had better check it out." The three of them started making their way through the forest towards the location of they had seen the light.

xxx

"That was the best you could come up with?" Sasuke didn't bother to answer.

"Just hide." The two of them put some distance between them and Naruto but remained where they could see. They melted into the darkness. Sasuke had lit the top of the tree Naruto was under on fire for good measure.

"I think I see something!" It was Sakura. "I think I see a person…wait a minute…it's Naruto!" Sakura's relief at seeing him quickly turned to anger. "He better have a good reason for all the trouble he has caused, if this is one of his pranks…" She didn't finish her sentence. Her anger transformed into anxiousness. Something wasn't right, Naruto wasn't moving. They all came to a stop in front of him. Sakura leaned down and started to check him over. "Maybe, he is just asleep." She didn't sound convinced. "Something's wrong, his physical body is fine but he seems to be in a comatose state, this is beyond me, we have to get him back to the village and quickly."

"How did he get here? None of this makes any sense." Sai said.

"It doesn't matter now, what matters is that we get him back to the village. Sai, go on ahead and have a medical team ready." Sai nodded and took off into the night. "Sakura, help me get him onto my back."

Sasuke had felt a wave of relief wash over him when the Leaf shinobi who appeared from the darkness were his old teammates. They would do everything in their power for Naruto, He could trust them.

"We will follow them at a distance." Sasuke whispered to Suigetsu. "We can't let them see us."

Kakashi and Sakura moved as quickly as they could with Naruto. Sakura kept a hand on Naruto, lending her chakra to strengthen him. Whatever battle he was fighting, he was growing weak. He was fading.

"Kakashi, we have to pick up the pace, we're losing him."

"Are you sure it won't make him worse? I could go faster but it will be harder on him."

"If we don't get him back soon, it won't matter." Kakashi nodded his understanding. They sped up. It took a few hours to make it back to the village, when they arrived Tsunade, Shizune, and a few other members of the medical corp were waiting for them. Sai was there as well.

"Bring him here! Quickly!" Tsunade ordered. Kakashi with help quickly but gently laid Naruto onto the gurney they had brought. Tsunade worked swiftly to assess his condition as they moved. "This is not good, he's barely breathing and his heart beat is faint. Where did you find him?"

Kakashi scratched his head and let out a nervous chuckle. "Underneath a burning tree actually..."

"Whaaaat? Forget it, you can it explain it to me later, we have bigger concerns. Shizune, get Captain Yamato and have him meet us at the hospital."

"Yes, my lady!" Shizune took off running.

Tsunade shot of orders so fast Kakashi didn't think his sharingan could follow her. Every command she made was met with yes my lady and someone taking off running. When they burst through the doors of the medical center Sai and Captain Yamato were waiting.

"I think something is wrong with the seal keeping the nine tails at bay, it's the only thing that makes sense." Yamato had started checking over the seal before Tsunade had finished her sentence.

"You're right. It looks like seal has been significantly weakened and portions are missing. This is very serious. I can tighten it back and repair it but it is going to take me some time. I don't know how much longer Naruto can hold on. I'm amazed he has survived this long. He is fighting the nine tails internally, keeping it from breaking free and killing him in the process."

"What do you need from us?" Tsunade asked.

"Get him into a bed and put him on heavy sedation. I'll need you and Sakura to continue to strengthen him with chakra. If he is going to make it through it is going to take all of us." Everyone nodded their agreement. "Let's get started then."

They got Naruto transferred into a bed, and fluids started along with heavy sedation. Yamato used his wood style to restrain Naruto and started working. Tsunade and Sakura sat to either side of the bed maintaining a steady flow of chakra into Naruto. It was going to be a long night.


	11. Darkness Turns to Dawn

Lucky for Sasuke they had put Naruto in a room with a window. He sat perched on the roof of a building across from the medical center watching as the team worked to keep Naruto alive. At one point when they almost lost him he had nearly burst through the window. Everything had been going well when Naruto had suddenly started to convulse and then suddenly went completely limp. Tsunade had jumped onto the bed straddling him and started sending small electrical pulses into his chest in an attempt to restart his heart. Sakura had continued to pour a steady stream of chakra into him as tears poured down her face. When he had started breathing again Tsunade had starting crying. Sasuke had been able to read her lips.

"Oh, thank god." She had said it over and over again. She had quickly regained her composure and went back to assisting Sakura. Yamato was drenched in sweat, it was clear the effort to fix the seal was enormous. It was taking everything he had. Kakashi and Sai were waiting in the lobby, they hadn't left. It was only a little before dawn when Yamato had finally finished and Naruto had stabilized. When Tsunade had walked into the lobby both Kakashi and Sai stood up. They visibly relaxed when Tsunade told them he was finally stable. She told them they couldn't see him till morning, they had both sat back down to wait. Sakura had passed out on the hospital bed next to Naruto's, Tsunade and Yamato had lain down on cots in the hallway. Sasuke knew it was risky, but he couldn't help himself. He had pulled the hood of his cloak up over his head and quietly snuck in through the window. He sat down on the edge of the bed and looked down at Naruto sleeping peacefully. Once he had been certain Naruto was in the clear it was like a huge weight had lifted off of him. He was overjoyed. He stroked Naruto's face, his skin was so soft. He took Naruto's hand. He just wanted to look at him. Too look at his handsome living face. How close he had come to losing Naruto had made him realize how deeply he truly did love him. He was about to bring Naruto's hand to his lips to kiss it when he felt a presence.

"You took a big risk coming here." Tsunade stood in the doorway. "You're Naruto's informant, aren't you?" Sasuke didn't say anything. "You must really care about him if you snuck in here just to sit by his bedside." Tsunade took a few steps towards him. He turned towards the open window. "Don't worry; I'm not going to turn you in, I have no quarrel with you. In fact, if anything I'm grateful to you." Sasuke relaxed a bit. He was still holding Naruto's hand. "I'm assuming you are the one who brought him from wherever he was, and lit that tree on fire. He is alive because of you. Thank you."

"There's something for you on your desk." Sasuke gave Naruto's a hand a squeeze and climbed up onto the window ledge.

"Huh?" Sasuke jumped out of the window and quickly disappeared behind some buildings. The sun was just starting to rise.

"Hey! Wait!" Tsunade ran over to the window but he was already gone.

Sasuke met back up with Suigetsu in an ally by the building that had Tsunade's office.

"Well?"

"I put the head where you told me too." Suigetsu answered. They began walking through the village. "So where are we going?" Sasuke didn't answer. "How are we going to explain where we have been to that Tobi guy? No response. "Hey? Are you listening to me?" Suigetsu crossed his arms and frowned. "Bastard." They walked a little ways before coming to a stop in front of a door. "Where are we?" Sasuke tried the door. Locked. He felt along the top of the door frame until his fingers felt a key it was in the same place it had always been. They both went inside. "Is this your old place? Dude, it's a pigsty, I mean, I realize you haven't been here in a while but seriously."

"It's not my place." Sasuke said as his slid his shoes off.

"Well then whose is it?"

"Naruto's, idiot."

"Well, it's a pigsty." Sasuke couldn't argue with that. Suigetsu was right. There was trash everywhere. Sasuke locked the door behind them.

"We can lay low here for a while."

"Shouldn't we be getting back? I mean, the longer we are gone the harder it is going to be to explain everything." Sasuke looked at Suigetsu.

"We're staying."

"Fine, whatever." Suigetsu sat down on the bed. "It makes no difference to me."

xxx

It was late afternoon when Naruto finally woke up. The light hurt his eyes.

"Glad to see you back among the living." It was Kakashi. Naruto was beyond confused.

"Whe…where am I?" His voice was scratchy. "How did I get here?"

"Well, there is a lot we were hoping you could fill in for us, but for the last leg of your journey I carried you." Naruto sat up in the bed and raised his hand to his neck. He could still feel Danzo's fingers around his throat. "Tsunade wants to see you as soon as you get your strength back." Naruto nodded. He wasn't fully oriented yet.

"Naruto, what were you doing?" There was concern in Kakashi's voice.

"Meeting my informant."

"Your what?" Kakashi remembered the Anbu that had come to report on Naruto, at the time he had just thought Naruto was being tailed because he was the jinchūriki that it was for his own protection. Now he was beginning to wonder.

"While we were on that mission a while back, I met someone, they had been working for the Akatsuki but they didn't want to anymore. To help stop them they agreed to be my inside man, to get me intel on their movements. In exchange, I promised to not reveal his identity. I went to meet him."

"I see." Kakashi was quiet for a moment. "You've become quite the ninja, Naruto." Naruto looked over at Kakashi in surprise. He hadn't been expecting that.

"Thanks, Kakashi sensei."

"Just fill us in next time, we're your team. We could've helped." A small smile wisped across Naruto's lips.

"So, what happened? I'm assuming your friend didn't do this to you." Naruto shook his head.

"It was Danzo." Kakashi's one visible eye went wide.

"Danzo, why would he do this? That doesn't make any sense." Naruto clenched his fist.

"It makes perfect sense." He volume was increasing. "He's evil! He saw an opportunity and he took it. He never cared about the village everything he has ever done has been for his own twisted gain."

"Naruto." Kakashi interrupted him. "What are you talking about?" Naruto sighed.

"It's nothing. Just forget it." He looked out the window. "The last thing I remember Danzo had his hand clamped around my throat and was slamming me into the side of a mountain. He said the only way he could figure out for me to have gotten the intel that I gave the elders was that I had joined up with the enemy." He left out the part about how he had broken into the Anbu headquarters. "He said he was going to "put me down like the beast I was" I guess he almost did. I passed out so I don't remember anything between then and now."

"I see, well, just rest up. I'll come back to see you later, okay?" Kakashi gave Naruto's shoulder a squeeze.

A few hours passed by before Naruto got sick of being in a hospital bed and checked himself out. When he had first tried to get up he had almost fallen. His muscles were stiff and weak from lack of use. He had been out for almost three days. Judging by Sakura's reaction when she saw him his condition had been pretty serious. She had thrown her arms around him and cried. After a few minutes, she had returned to her old self and proceeded to scold him, she meant well. Sai had looked relieved as well. They had left him for the night just a few minutes before he left. The cool night air felt good on his face and it felt good to move. He knew he wouldn't hear the end of it for leaving tomorrow but he didn't care. He was bummed that he had missed Sasuke again. He was missing so much time; he wanted to fill in the blanks of what happened. Maybe Danzo had changed his mind about killing him…he doubted that. By the time he made it too the building where his room was he was exhausted. The short walk had completely zapped his energy.

xxx

"Shhh" Sasuke shushed Suigetsu. "I hear footsteps." Sasuke put his ear up against the door to listen better.

"Damn it! Not again! I know I left my key right here." That was definitely Naruto. Sasuke threw the door open, grabbed Naruto by the shirt and yanked him inside closing the door behind him. He pulled Naruto into an embrace, he felt Naruto relax into him. He was clearly still weak.

"Sasuke…why are you…" Sasuke shushed him.

"It doesn't matter, what matters is I'm here now, with you." He pulled Naruto closer. It felt so good to have Naruto in his arms. Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke. Naruto hadn't even reacted when the door flung open and he had been pulled inside his apartment. He had been confused and shocked to find himself in Sasuke's arms but he didn't care, it felt so good. Sasuke pulled back from their embrace, he cupped Naruto's face in his hands. His emotions were all over the place.

"Oh Naruto…" Sasuke kissed him. It made Naruto's whole body tingle, he kissed him back. When they separated for air Sasuke put his forehead against Naruto's.

"I love you Naruto." He whispered. Naruto got goosebumps all over his body.

"Sasuke…" Naruto thought his emotions might over flow. "Did you just…"

"You heard me." Sasuke pushed Naruto against the door. "I love you Naruto." He pressed up against him as they met for another kiss. Naruto slithered his hands inside Sasuke's clothes feeling his skin, at the feel of Naruto's hands Sasuke let out a small moan and kissed him more deeply. Every touch was exhilarating; it sent shivers through their bodies. The next time they parted they were both panting; Naruto's muscles didn't feel tired any more, he wanted Sasuke, he could see by the look in Sasuke's eyes he felt the same. The way Sasuke was looking at him he would probably do him against the door if he let him. Could be fun. Their moment was interrupted by someone talking.

"I hate to interrupt but I am here you know." Naruto's face flushed red. He hadn't even seen the other person sitting at the kitchen table. Talk about a mood killer. Sasuke sighed. He had clearly forgotten about the presence of the other man as well.

"Aren't you going to introduce me Sasuke?" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Naruto, this is Suigetsu. We've been traveling together." Naruto felt a pang of jealously but he squashed it.

"Uh, hi." When Naruto tried to walk Sasuke had to catch him. He had reached his limit.

"Here let me help you, you're still weak." Sasuke escorted Naruto to the bed. He lay down and Sasuke sat next to him taking his hand.

"So, what happened? I don't remember anything." Naruto wished he could forget that someone had been watching the moment him and Sasuke had just shared. Before Sasuke could answer Suigetsu chimed in.

"Well, we made it to the cave just in time to see the guy with the weird arm clobber you into the mountainside. Sasuke went berserk and killed him. Then he carried you on his back until we ran into some Leaf ninja, he set a tree on fire so that they would find you and bring you back to the village and now we're here." Sasuke glared at Suigetsu.

"Danzo's dead?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. I had Suigetsu leave his head on Tsunade's desk." Naruto smiled.

"Good. I hated that guy."

"We left his body in a ravine where no one will ever find it and the birds with pick his flesh from his bones." Sasuke and Naruto both couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at Suigetsu's matter-o-fact explanation of what had transpired. He made it sound so simplistic.

"Well, I can get details later, but right now I am exhausted." Naruto pulled his shirt off and threw it in the corner. Sasuke looked him over.

 _…_ _Damn he looks good, I don't know if I'll be able to keep my hands off of him…_

Naruto noticed Sasuke looking him over. He gave his hand a squeeze. Suigetsu made himself comfortable on the floor. Naruto stripped off his pants and snuggled in under his blanket.

"You're not going to make this easy, are you?" Sasuke drank in his lover's body, his desire clearly evident. Sasuke overcame his overwhelming desire to jump Naruto and got up and locked the door. He pulled off his clothes on the way back to the bed.

"Okay, I see what you mean." Naruto stared at Sasuke's chiseled body as he climbed in bed, he put one arm under his head, using the other to pull Naruto close. They looked into one another's eyes. Sasuke ran his hand through Naruto's hair and smiled at him.

"You're hard." Naruto's cheeks flushed causing Sasuke to smirk. He kissed Naruto gently. "Don't worry; I'll take care of that soon enough." He whispered into Naruto's ear what he planned to do to him next time they were alone. It made Naruto squirm. He buried his face in Sasuke's chest.

"Now who's not making it easy?" Sasuke smiled at Naruto's muffled words. "Can we just stay like this forever?" Sasuke kissed his forehead.

"I'd like that." Naruto suddenly licked one of Sasuke's nipples making all of his muscles tense.

"I think I like this vantage point." He licked again.

"Not fair." Sasuke whined as Naruto took advantage of the position they were laying in. When he finally stopped Sasuke exhaled heavily and let his muscles relax. "You're heartless." He said breathlessly.

"I missed you." Naruto kissed Sasuke's chest as he hugged him close. "I thought about you constantly."

"The feeling was mutual."

"Did you really go berserk?" Sasuke was quiet for a moment.

"Yeah, I did…I saw Danzo drop your lifeless body to the ground and I went crazy. I couldn't handle the idea of losing you and the thought of Danzo laying his hands on you made me furious…" Sasuke paused for moment. "I awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan in both eyes." Sasuke squeezed Naruto tightly. "I killed him with the Susanoo. It was pretty touch and go for a while, we didn't know if you would make it through the night. Even once we got back to the village you almost slipped away from me." Talking about what had happened made Sasuke choke up. "Naruto, your heart stopped…I was terrified."

"I'm sorry I caused you so much pain." He said quietly.

"Don't apologize, just don't ever do it again. Deal?"

"Deal. So, does this mean you're my boyfriend?" Naruto looked deep into Sasuke's obsidian eyes that he adored so much. Sasuke kissed his nose.

"Yeah, it does."

"I'm never going to leave you Sasuke, ever. I love you. This makes me so happy." Naruto's blue eyes sparkled. It warmed Sasuke's heart. He caressed Naruto's cheek.

"I love you too. Now get some rest." It wasn't long before Naruto was sound asleep. It was obvious he had been running on steam. He should probably still be in the hospital but Sasuke wasn't about to give this up. God, he was gorgeous. Sasuke could barely keep his hands off of him. He liked having Naruto next to him. He thought about how Naruto's beautiful blue eyes had sparkled when he had said yes to be his boyfriend. Boyfriend, he had a boyfriend. He could hardly believe it himself, and Naruto of all people. He had never expected things to turn out this way but he loved it. He was head over heels. For the first time in a long time Sasuke fell asleep with a smile on his face.


	12. Welcome Home

Lucky for Sasuke they had put Naruto in a room with a window. He sat perched on the roof of a building across from the medical center watching as the team worked to keep Naruto alive. At one point when they almost lost him he had nearly burst through the window. Everything had been going well when Naruto had suddenly started to convulse and then suddenly went completely limp. Tsunade had jumped onto the bed straddling him and started sending small electrical pulses into his chest in an attempt to restart his heart. Sakura had continued to pour a steady stream of chakra into him as tears poured down her face. When he had started breathing again Tsunade had starting crying. Sasuke had been able to read her lips.

"Oh, thank god." She had said it over and over again. She had quickly regained her composure and went back to assisting Sakura. Yamato was drenched in sweat, it was clear the effort to fix the seal was enormous. It was taking everything he had. Kakashi and Sai were waiting in the lobby, they hadn't left. It was only a little before dawn when Yamato had finally finished and Naruto had stabilized. When Tsunade had walked into the lobby both Kakashi and Sai stood up. They visibly relaxed when Tsunade told them he was finally stable. She told them they couldn't see him till morning, they had both sat back down to wait. Sakura had passed out on the hospital bed next to Naruto's, Tsunade and Yamato had lain down on cots in the hallway. Sasuke knew it was risky, but he couldn't help himself. He had pulled the hood of his cloak up over his head and quietly snuck in through the window. He sat down on the edge of the bed and looked down at Naruto sleeping peacefully. Once he had been certain Naruto was in the clear it was like a huge weight had lifted off of him. He was overjoyed. He stroked Naruto's face, his skin was so soft. He took Naruto's hand. He just wanted to look at him. Too look at his handsome living face. How close he had come to losing Naruto had made him realize how deeply he truly did love him. He was about to bring Naruto's hand to his lips to kiss it when he felt a presence.

"You took a big risk coming here." Tsunade stood in the doorway. "You're Naruto's informant, aren't you?" Sasuke didn't say anything. "You must really care about him if you snuck in here just to sit by his bedside." Tsunade took a few steps towards him. He turned towards the open window. "Don't worry; I'm not going to turn you in, I have no quarrel with you. In fact, if anything I'm grateful to you." Sasuke relaxed a bit. He was still holding Naruto's hand. "I'm assuming you are the one who brought him from wherever he was, and lit that tree on fire. He is alive because of you. Thank you."

"There's something for you on your desk." Sasuke gave Naruto's a hand a squeeze and climbed up onto the window ledge.

"Huh?" Sasuke jumped out of the window and quickly disappeared behind some buildings. The sun was just starting to rise.

"Hey! Wait!" Tsunade ran over to the window but he was already gone.

Sasuke met back up with Suigetsu in an ally by the building that had Tsunade's office.

"Well?"

"I put the head where you told me too." Suigetsu answered. They began walking through the village. "So where are we going?" Sasuke didn't answer. "How are we going to explain where we have been to that Tobi guy? No response. "Hey? Are you listening to me?" Suigetsu crossed his arms and frowned. "Bastard." They walked a little ways before coming to a stop in front of a door. "Where are we?" Sasuke tried the door. Locked. He felt along the top of the door frame until his fingers felt a key it was in the same place it had always been. They both went inside. "Is this your old place? Dude, it's a pigsty, I mean, I realize you haven't been here in a while but seriously."

"It's not my place." Sasuke said as his slid his shoes off.

"Well then whose is it?"

"Naruto's, idiot."

"Well, it's a pigsty." Sasuke couldn't argue with that. Suigetsu was right. There was trash everywhere. Sasuke locked the door behind them.

"We can lay low here for a while."

"Shouldn't we be getting back? I mean, the longer we are gone the harder it is going to be to explain everything." Sasuke looked at Suigetsu.

"We're staying."

"Fine, whatever." Suigetsu sat down on the bed. "It makes no difference to me."

xxx

It was late afternoon when Naruto finally woke up. The light hurt his eyes.

"Glad to see you back among the living." It was Kakashi. Naruto was beyond confused.

"Whe…where am I?" His voice was scratchy. "How did I get here?"

"Well, there is a lot we were hoping you could fill in for us, but for the last leg of your journey I carried you." Naruto sat up in the bed and raised his hand to his neck. He could still feel Danzo's fingers around his throat. "Tsunade wants to see you as soon as you get your strength back." Naruto nodded. He wasn't fully oriented yet.

"Naruto, what were you doing?" There was concern in Kakashi's voice.

"Meeting my informant."

"Your what?" Kakashi remembered the Anbu that had come to report on Naruto, at the time he had just thought Naruto was being tailed because he was the jinchūriki that it was for his own protection. Now he was beginning to wonder.

"While we were on that mission a while back, I met someone, they had been working for the Akatsuki but they didn't want to anymore. To help stop them they agreed to be my inside man, to get me intel on their movements. In exchange, I promised to not reveal his identity. I went to meet him."

"I see." Kakashi was quiet for a moment. "You've become quite the ninja, Naruto." Naruto looked over at Kakashi in surprise. He hadn't been expecting that.

"Thanks, Kakashi sensei."

"Just fill us in next time, we're your team. We could've helped." A small smile wisped across Naruto's lips.

"So, what happened? I'm assuming your friend didn't do this to you." Naruto shook his head.

"It was Danzo." Kakashi's one visible eye went wide.

"Danzo, why would he do this? That doesn't make any sense." Naruto clenched his fist.

"It makes perfect sense." He volume was increasing. "He's evil! He saw an opportunity and he took it. He never cared about the village everything he has ever done has been for his own twisted gain."

"Naruto." Kakashi interrupted him. "What are you talking about?" Naruto sighed.

"It's nothing. Just forget it." He looked out the window. "The last thing I remember Danzo had his hand clamped around my throat and was slamming me into the side of a mountain. He said the only way he could figure out for me to have gotten the intel that I gave the elders was that I had joined up with the enemy." He left out the part about how he had broken into the Anbu headquarters. "He said he was going to "put me down like the beast I was" I guess he almost did. I passed out so I don't remember anything between then and now."

"I see, well, just rest up. I'll come back to see you later, okay?" Kakashi gave Naruto's shoulder a squeeze.

A few hours passed by before Naruto got sick of being in a hospital bed and checked himself out. When he had first tried to get up he had almost fallen. His muscles were stiff and weak from lack of use. He had been out for almost three days. Judging by Sakura's reaction when she saw him his condition had been pretty serious. She had thrown her arms around him and cried. After a few minutes, she had returned to her old self and proceeded to scold him, she meant well. Sai had looked relieved as well. They had left him for the night just a few minutes before he left. The cool night air felt good on his face and it felt good to move. He knew he wouldn't hear the end of it for leaving tomorrow but he didn't care. He was bummed that he had missed Sasuke again. He was missing so much time; he wanted to fill in the blanks of what happened. Maybe Danzo had changed his mind about killing him…he doubted that. By the time he made it too the building where his room was he was exhausted. The short walk had completely zapped his energy.

xxx

"Shhh" Sasuke shushed Suigetsu. "I hear footsteps." Sasuke put his ear up against the door to listen better.

"Damn it! Not again! I know I left my key right here." That was definitely Naruto. Sasuke threw the door open, grabbed Naruto by the shirt and yanked him inside closing the door behind him. He pulled Naruto into an embrace, he felt Naruto relax into him. He was clearly still weak.

"Sasuke…why are you…" Sasuke shushed him.

"It doesn't matter, what matters is I'm here now, with you." He pulled Naruto closer. It felt so good to have Naruto in his arms. Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke. Naruto hadn't even reacted when the door flung open and he had been pulled inside his apartment. He had been confused and shocked to find himself in Sasuke's arms but he didn't care, it felt so good. Sasuke pulled back from their embrace, he cupped Naruto's face in his hands. His emotions were all over the place.

"Oh Naruto…" Sasuke kissed him. It made Naruto's whole body tingle, he kissed him back. When they separated for air Sasuke put his forehead against Naruto's.

"I love you Naruto." He whispered. Naruto got goosebumps all over his body.

"Sasuke…" Naruto thought his emotions might over flow. "Did you just…"

"You heard me." Sasuke pushed Naruto against the door. "I love you Naruto." He pressed up against him as they met for another kiss. Naruto slithered his hands inside Sasuke's clothes feeling his skin, at the feel of Naruto's hands Sasuke let out a small moan and kissed him more deeply. Every touch was exhilarating; it sent shivers through their bodies. The next time they parted they were both panting; Naruto's muscles didn't feel tired any more, he wanted Sasuke, he could see by the look in Sasuke's eyes he felt the same. The way Sasuke was looking at him he would probably do him against the door if he let him. Could be fun. Their moment was interrupted by someone talking.

"I hate to interrupt but I am here you know." Naruto's face flushed red. He hadn't even seen the other person sitting at the kitchen table. Talk about a mood killer. Sasuke sighed. He had clearly forgotten about the presence of the other man as well.

"Aren't you going to introduce me Sasuke?" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Naruto, this is Suigetsu. We've been traveling together." Naruto felt a pang of jealously but he squashed it.

"Uh, hi." When Naruto tried to walk Sasuke had to catch him. He had reached his limit.

"Here let me help you, you're still weak." Sasuke escorted Naruto to the bed. He lay down and Sasuke sat next to him taking his hand.

"So, what happened? I don't remember anything." Naruto wished he could forget that someone had been watching the moment him and Sasuke had just shared. Before Sasuke could answer Suigetsu chimed in.

"Well, we made it to the cave just in time to see the guy with the weird arm clobber you into the mountainside. Sasuke went berserk and killed him. Then he carried you on his back until we ran into some Leaf ninja, he set a tree on fire so that they would find you and bring you back to the village and now we're here." Sasuke glared at Suigetsu.

"Danzo's dead?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. I had Suigetsu leave his head on Tsunade's desk." Naruto smiled.

"Good. I hated that guy."

"We left his body in a ravine where no one will ever find it and the birds with pick his flesh from his bones." Sasuke and Naruto both couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at Suigetsu's matter-o-fact explanation of what had transpired. He made it sound so simplistic.

"Well, I can get details later, but right now I am exhausted." Naruto pulled his shirt off and threw it in the corner. Sasuke looked him over.

 _…_ _Damn he looks good, I don't know if I'll be able to keep my hands off of him…_

Naruto noticed Sasuke looking him over. He gave his hand a squeeze. Suigetsu made himself comfortable on the floor. Naruto stripped off his pants and snuggled in under his blanket.

"You're not going to make this easy, are you?" Sasuke drank in his lover's body, his desire clearly evident. Sasuke overcame his overwhelming desire to jump Naruto and got up and locked the door. He pulled off his clothes on the way back to the bed.

"Okay, I see what you mean." Naruto stared at Sasuke's chiseled body as he climbed in bed, he put one arm under his head, using the other to pull Naruto close. They looked into one another's eyes. Sasuke ran his hand through Naruto's hair and smiled at him.

"You're hard." Naruto's cheeks flushed causing Sasuke to smirk. He kissed Naruto gently. "Don't worry; I'll take care of that soon enough." He whispered into Naruto's ear what he planned to do to him next time they were alone. It made Naruto squirm. He buried his face in Sasuke's chest.

"Now who's not making it easy?" Sasuke smiled at Naruto's muffled words. "Can we just stay like this forever?" Sasuke kissed his forehead.

"I'd like that." Naruto suddenly licked one of Sasuke's nipples making all of his muscles tense.

"I think I like this vantage point." He licked again.

"Not fair." Sasuke whined as Naruto took advantage of the position they were laying in. When he finally stopped Sasuke exhaled heavily and let his muscles relax. "You're heartless." He said breathlessly.

"I missed you." Naruto kissed Sasuke's chest as he hugged him close. "I thought about you constantly."

"The feeling was mutual."

"Did you really go berserk?" Sasuke was quiet for a moment.

"Yeah, I did…I saw Danzo drop your lifeless body to the ground and I went crazy. I couldn't handle the idea of losing you and the thought of Danzo laying his hands on you made me furious…" Sasuke paused for moment. "I awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan in both eyes." Sasuke squeezed Naruto tightly. "I killed him with the Susanoo. It was pretty touch and go for a while, we didn't know if you would make it through the night. Even once we got back to the village you almost slipped away from me." Talking about what had happened made Sasuke choke up. "Naruto, your heart stopped…I was terrified."

"I'm sorry I caused you so much pain." He said quietly.

"Don't apologize, just don't ever do it again. Deal?"

"Deal. So, does this mean you're my boyfriend?" Naruto looked deep into Sasuke's obsidian eyes that he adored so much. Sasuke kissed his nose.

"Yeah, it does."

"I'm never going to leave you Sasuke, ever. I love you. This makes me so happy." Naruto's blue eyes sparkled. It warmed Sasuke's heart. He caressed Naruto's cheek.

"I love you too. Now get some rest." It wasn't long before Naruto was sound asleep. It was obvious he had been running on steam. He should probably still be in the hospital but Sasuke wasn't about to give this up. God, he was gorgeous. Sasuke could barely keep his hands off of him. He liked having Naruto next to him. He thought about how Naruto's beautiful blue eyes had sparkled when he had said yes to be his boyfriend. Boyfriend, he had a boyfriend. He could hardly believe it himself, and Naruto of all people. He had never expected things to turn out this way but he loved it. He was head over heels. For the first time in a long time Sasuke fell asleep with a smile on his face.


	13. A Day In The Life

The next morning everyone was startled awake by someone banging on the door.

"Naruto! I know you are in there, open this door!" It was Sakura, and she sounded mad.

"Shit! Both of you hide somewhere!" Naruto scrambled out of bed pulling his pants on as he went to answer the door. Sasuke pulled the covers up over his head and Suigetsu ran into the bathroom. Naruto opened the door a crack.

"What do you want Sakura?" He wiped sleep from his eyes.

"I went to the hospital this morning only to find out you left last night! What were you thinking?" Naruto stopped her before she could continue.

"Did you just come by to scold me or do you need something?" Sakura was taken aback by Naruto's abruptness.

"Uh, well…I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay that's all."

"I'm fine, I'm just a bit tired still. How about we get lunch later, okay?" Sakura nodded.

"Don't forget, Tsunade wants to see you."

"I won't." Just as Naruto was about to close the door something in the other room fell.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Naruto stuttered. "Something just fell that's all, nothing to see here!" He slammed the door.

"Naruto! Is someone in there! Answer me!"

"Everything's fine, I'll see you for lunch!" Naruto yelled through the door. Sakura muttered curses to herself as she stomped away.

Naruto leaned against the door. "Phew, that was too close." Suigetsu came out of the bathroom with a "whoops my bad" look on his face and Sasuke sat up in the bed.

"So, what's our plan?" Suigetsu asked.

"Well, I have to meet with Tsunade in a little while I think with everything that has happened I could convince her to let Sasuke come back."

"Sounds like our best option, there is no way we will be able to lie our way out of this to Tobi, especially with Deidara dead. Sasuke?" Suigetsu and Naruto both looked at him. He was silent for a while.

"I don't know…"

"Sasuke, you saved the hero of the village, there is no way Tsunade can say no, you killed a corrupt leader, provided us with valuable intel at the risk of your life and you took out a member of the Akatsuki along the way. Trust me on this, you're golden." Sasuke looked at Naruto. He finally gave him a nod.

"Alllrrrigghht! Yeah!" Naruto tackled Sasuke onto his back and kissed him. Seeing Naruto's sheer joy made Sasuke smile. He would do anything to make him happy. Plus, Suigetsu was right, there was no way they were going to get back into the Akatsuki, this was their best option.

"I'm going to shower and go meet with Tsunade" Naruto went into the bathroom. "I think both of you should come." The shower turned on.

"If you think that would be best." Sasuke wasn't sure how he felt. He was happy that he would be able to stay with Naruto if everything worked out, but this was the first time he had been back to the village since he had first left to go with Orochimaru. That guy was such a creep, he was glad he was dead. He was having trouble picturing what it would be like to be part of the village again. If it meant being with Naruto it couldn't be all bad. Sasuke got out of bed.

"Suigetsu, find something to do."

"But why?" Sasuke already had the bathroom door halfway open.

"Unless you'd rather listen?" Suigetsu didn't argue.

"I'll meet you guys out front of the main building."

Sasuke disappeared into the bathroom. He let his underwear drop to the floor. Once in the shower he wrapped his arms around Naruto from behind and started kissing his neck.

"Sasuke, Suigetsu…"

"Suigetsu isn't here." Sasuke pressed up against Naruto and started rubbing his nipples. "I think I owe you for last night, you remember what I told right? I plan on following through on everything I said." Naruto's breathing quickened and his heart was pounding. Sasuke licked his finger and slowly slid it inside of Naruto making him quiver with pleasure and let out a moan.

"Sasuke…" He moaned breathlessly.

"Don't worry; I'll make sure you can still walk when I'm finished with you."

xxx

It was midday when Naruto and Sasuke finally showed up, Suigetsu had a serious frown.

"It can't have taken that long." Naruto's face turned crimson.

"Well, we most definitely are not going to give you details." Sasuke said from underneath his hood. Until Naruto talked with Tsunade Sasuke still had to avoid being seen. They headed inside. Naruto had them wait in the hall while he went in to talk with Tsunade. The two Anbu guards were giving them the eye. Sasuke kept his back to them while they waited. He talked to Suigetsu in hushed tones.

"Suigetsu, just so you know, we decided that we aren't going to tell anybody about us yet." Suigetsu looked at him quizzically. "We figured, going to Tsunade with please let my boyfriend come back wasn't really the best approach."

"Fair enough, I won't say anything. When you want to make your relationship public knowledge is your business." Sasuke nodded his appreciation.

Meanwhile on the other side of the doors Naruto was getting the 3rd degree. As soon as he had gone in Tsunade had started asking him questions about where he had been, what had happened and why Danzo's head had been on her desk. He had told her everything he knew minus a few details, plausible deniability for her.

"So, what you are telling me is that Danzo tried to kill you because he thought you had joined the enemy?"

"Right."

"Why would he think that, the intel you gave us wasn't enough to prove that. And then there is the matter of your informant…"

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Let him stay in the village. All he has done is help; he gave us valuable intel on the Akatsuki's movements, killed Danzo who was clearly corrupt, among other things. He saved my life. He should be treated as a hero. He can't go back to the Akatsuki now, not after he has betrayed them, his place is here, with us." Tsunade considered Naruto's words. "He is waiting outside, how about you meet him and then make up your mind. Hear him out."

"Very well. Bring him in."

Naruto poked his head out and signaled for Suigetsu and Sasuke to come in. Tsunade took in Suigetsu first as they came through the door, and then her gaze fell on the cloaked figure.

"So, there are two of you."

"I'm just along for the ride." Suigetsu said.

"Show me your face." Tsunade's gaze was locked on Sasuke. When he pulled back his hood she gasped.

"Sasuke…you're Naruto's informant?!" He didn't respond.

"So, it was you that night in the hospital." It was all starting to make sense. The reason Naruto hadn't wanted to share his identity, and how he had been able to get the intel. It had been rumored that Sasuke had joined the Akatsuki, he would have been in the perfect position to infiltrate their ranks. Sasuke was the person Naruto had run into on his last mission. She chuckled inwardly. A truly masterful plan. Danzo had clearly been an unexpected obstacle. Sasuke had risked everything to save Naruto's life. She stood up and walked over to Sasuke, they stared at each other, both unwavering. Naruto's heart raced.

"So, you want to come back to the village huh? Why?" Sasuke crossed his arms. He was trying to think of a reason other than that he loved Naruto.

"Naruto helped me to realize that this is where I belong. He showed me that it wasn't too late to choose a different path." It was a few minutes before Tsunade spoke again.

"I guess I just have one thing left to say, welcome back Sasuke." She slapped him on the back and smiled. He cringed; Tsunade had a tendency to underestimate her strength. "Now, I would like your full report on the top-secret mission you have just returned from." Sasuke gave her a confused look which she returned with a mischievous grin. "I know everyone will be pleased to know that one of our best ninja has finally returned alive and well from his very dangerous mission that we were forced to keep a secret for his safety. In order for him to have a successful infiltration he had to be seen as an enemy of the Leaf. I am sure everyone will be ecstatic to welcome you home Sasuke. They will be filled with pride and gratitude for all of the things you have accomplished for the village. You will be held among the most honorable of shinobi." Naruto punched the air.

"Alright! You're the best Granny!" Tsunade poker her head out of her office door, she ordered one of the Anbu to bring Kakashi, Sakura, and Sai to her at once. The other she sent to call a village meeting right away.

"The rest of team seven should be the first to know. As far as anyone is concerned the story I tell today is the story that happened. It will be on the record books forever. Nothing else leaves this room, are we in agreement?" Everyone nodded. "I need to start writing my speech."

Naruto threw an arm around Suigetsu and Sasuke. "I told you guys!"

xxx

It took a little while for Kakashi, Sai, and Sakura to arrive, they stood in a line in front of Tsunade's desk. Naruto was standing next to her, arms crossed; Sasuke was leaning on the side of her desk, Suigetsu had set himself up on a window sill in the background. Sasuke had his hood up.

"What is it my lady? We heard that a village assembly was being called, is something wrong?" Sakura's voice was laced with concern. All three of them had had their eyes locked on Suigetsu and the hooded figure leaning against Tsunade's desk from the moment they walked into the room.

"No, no, nothing's wrong. We are going to be to be welcoming someone back to the village and I thought that you all should be the first too know." Sasuke let his hood fall back.

"Sasuke…" Kakashi mumbled his name in surprise. Sai's eyes went wide.

"Sasuke!" Sakura's eyes filled with tears. She ran over to him and wrapped her arms around him. She shook with emotion. Sasuke looked at Naruto who just shrugged. After a few moments she calmed down. "I'm sorry, I'm just so happy." She took Naruto's hand. "Thank you Naruto, for keeping your promise. You brought him home. We are finally all back together again." She smiled and wiped her eyes.

"Why don't you all take some time to catch up, I'll come get you when it's time for the assembly." Tsunade smiled.

"Come on all of you." Kakashi led the way out. They all went into a room down the hall. Sakura was glued to Sasuke's side. The room Kakashi led them too was one of many meeting rooms. They all sat down around the table that was in the middle of the room. Sakura sat down next to Sasuke of course, and Naruto sat to his other side. Suigetsu, Kakashi, and Sai all sat across from them.

"So, I think some introductions are in order. Sai, this is Sasuke." Kakashi gestured towards Sai. He smiled.

"Hello. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Sai was your replacement. He is especially talented when it comes to art based jutsu."

"That's Suigetsu, we've been traveling together." Sasuke said as emotionally disconnected as ever.

"That's all I get? You're a real asshole you know that?" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I can't be all that bad if you're still here." Sasuke retorted causing everyone to laugh.

"So, was it you who led us to Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes."

"I always knew you cared about us Sasuke!" Sakura chimed in. "Your home has always been here." She wrapped her arm around Sasuke's. Naruto was starting to get annoyed. He was having trouble remembering why he had liked Sakura; right now he just wanted to peel her off of Sasuke. They had been talking for an hour or two when Tsunade finally came to get them for the assembly.

"It's time." They had all nodded. Everyone but Sasuke and Naruto had headed to join the group that had gathered outside. The three of them made their way to the roof. Tsunade had stopped them in the stair well.

"Wait here out of sight; I will call you when it's time." With that she had gone onto the roof. Shizune, and the two remaining elders were waiting.

"What is this about Tsunade?" Koharu had her usual attitude and was wearing a skeptical frown on her face.

"Just listen." Tsunade snipped at her. "You're about to find out." Koharu huffed.

"Welcome everyone; you are probably wondering why I called all of you here." Tsunade's voice boomed out over the crowd. "I have been keeping something from all of you, and it's time that it was brought to light." Whispers spread through the crowd. She raised a hand calling for silence. "Quite some time ago I asked something of one of our shinobi. The thing I asked of him was very difficult, I asked him to take a top-secret mission, a mission that would be arduous for even the most experienced ninja, but due to the circumstances he was the only person who could pull it off. I asked him to give up his place of birth, become hated by his own village and be seen as an enemy. His mission was to infiltrate the enemy ranks, provide intel on their movements, and to kill who he could. He was to use whatever means necessary to fulfill this mission. One of the hardest parts of this mission was that I couldn't tell him when he would be coming home, perhaps never. Yet he accepted, despite the danger to himself." Tsunade paused, giving everything she had said a chance to sink in. The entire crowd was zoned in on her, no one made a sound.

"Today we will be welcoming him home." The crowd erupted in conversation. It took as few moments to calm everything back down. "We will be welcoming back a member of our family. He was willing to sacrifice everything, even his life, for the sake of the village. He is responsible for some of our most ground-breaking intel, killing a number of top priority criminals of the Leaf, including Akatsuki members, and Orochimaru himself. He saved the life of our very own Naruto Uzumaki all the while foiling the evil plans of one of our very own leaders who had become corrupt!" The crowd gasped collectively. Tsunade had flawlessly built the suspense and excitement within the gathered crowd leading up to announcing Sasuke. The village was going to welcome Sasuke back with open arms, and by doing it the way she had the two remaining elders wouldn't be able to object. "Raise your voice's with me! Let's celebrate the return of our brave soldier and loyal protector, Sasuke Uchiha!"

Naruto followed Sasuke up onto the roof to make sure he didn't back out. When he appeared on the roof the crowd went wild. Naruto could tell Sasuke was completely overwhelmed; he was so out of his element. Naruto stayed close at his side for moral support. It was incredible; Tsunade had played everything off perfectly. She had taken Sasuke from enemy number one to village hero in one speech. There was a reason she had been named Hokage, if anyone had any doubts, she had proven herself just now. After letting the crowd carry on for a while Tsunade spoke again.

"That concludes all orders of business. Assembly is dismissed!" They all headed down off the roof. Sasuke looked like he was about to throw up. Tsunade was talking but Naruto could tell Sasuke wasn't hearing any of it.

"Of course, we will house you but until we find a place you will have to find somewhere to stay."

"He can stay with me." Naruto volunteered.

"Good, it's settled then. I have things that require my attention I'll see you boys later." Tsunade smiled at them as she continued down the hall, Shizune and the two elders in toe leaving them alone. Naruto moved into Sasuke's space. He stroked his arm gently. Sasuke was clearly still in shock.

"Hey, it's over now." Naruto took Sasuke's hand. "And we get to be roommates."

"I don't like people, and that was so many people. What if they all want to talk to me?"

"It would appear we've found your weakness. Sasuke, you have stage fright." Sasuke frowned.

"No, I don't, I just don't like people." Naruto chuckled.

"Come on, let's go home." He put his arm around Sasuke's shoulders as they started walking. "Roomie." Sasuke playfully elbowed him in the ribs.

"But seriously, what if all those people want to talk to me?" This time Naruto laughed.

"How about this, if that happens we will talk to them together, okay? I'm not going anywhere."


	14. Sakura

Nel here, hope you all are enjoying and are ready for the next chapter! FYI - Any specific story questions I will answer over PM. Thank you to all of you who have posted reviews!

xxx

A few weeks had passed since the assembly and things had finally started to settle down. The Uchiha name had virtual been restored in one day. Almost the entire village had accepted Sasuke back as one of their own, there were a few people who were still suspicious but with the Hokage's seal of approval on his return and all of the things he had done for the village there was nothing they could do about it except grumble. With time, they too would come to see that Sasuke was on their side and he wasn't the same as his predecessors. Sasuke was well on his way to restoring honor and status to the Uchiha name. Naruto and Sasuke had been inseparable since he had moved in. When Shizune had come and told them they had finally found a place for Sasuke and brought him the key they had given it Suigetsu as soon as she left, they were happy together where they were.

Sasuke had quickly gotten placed back on team seven and in the rotation for missions. Their days were filled with secret rendezvous, and stolen glances. Every so often as one would be walking down the street or hallway an arm would shoot out from an ally or empty room and yank the other inside. So far no one had caught on to the fact that they were any more than friends and roommates but they had had a few close calls. Sakura always seemed to know where Sasuke was and had nearly caught them in compromising positions more than once. She had a bad habit of showing up unannounced at the worst possible times. One of those times had happened just a few days ago. They had picked up some paint to redo the inside of the apartment. When they started the project, they left the windows and door open because of the fumes. They had been taking a break and having lunch, Sasuke was leaning in to kiss him, their lips almost touching when Sakura had burst in making Naruto jump and throw his drink all over Sasuke. As he had gotten up to go get cleaned off he had nonchalantly commented that he didn't see anything in Naruto's eye. Sakura had accepted that as a perfectly good explanation for what she had just seen and proceeded to tell Naruto to be more careful and less jumpy. She said she had come to help paint. They hadn't even told anyone they were painting, how she found out is still unknown. She had spent the rest of the afternoon batting her eyelashes at Sasuke. It had been a long day.

When they weren't working they were trying to figure out a plan to bring the other two elders to justice. So far, they hadn't come up with any good ideas. Most nights ended in frustration after hours of deliberation. They were just going to have to wait until an opportunity presented itself. They spent a lot of nights talking about their lives over the last few years. So much had happened it was fun learning about each other. Then there were the nights where they just fucked until they passed out. They enjoyed both kinds of nights in their own ways. Today was Saturday and they both had the day off. Sasuke the early bird of the relationship had already been up for a few hours, Naruto on the other hand was just barely gaining consciousness.

"I don't know how you can sleep like that." Sasuke was sitting in the kitchen; he had a fresh cup of tea.

"And I don't understand how you can be so chipper in the morning. It's unnatural." Naruto yawned and wiped the sleep from his eyes.

"Mornings are peaceful. Want some tea?"

"Sure." Naruto groggily walked over to the table and sat down in his underwear. He took a sip of the freshly poured cup of tea Sasuke put in front of him. "Do we have to do anything today?"

"I now understand why you were always late to everything; do you even own a calendar?"

"Why would I need a calendar when I have you?" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"You're lucky you're cute. I think Suigetsu was going to stop by later this afternoon to hang out but other than that our day is clear." He took a sip of tea. "Unless of course Sakura stops by again." He let out an exasperated sigh.

"How many times has it been this week?"

"I've lost count." They were both quiet for a few minutes.

"Maybe we should tell her." Naruto suggested. "I kind of feel bad for her."

"You know what would happen if we told her, it would spread like wild fire."

"Would that really be so bad? It's killing me keeping us a secret." Sasuke took Naruto's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"I know, but we agreed its best this way. At least for now. Not only are we going to have to deal with everyone's reactions but loved ones end up as targets. You already have a big enough one on your back, let's not give the enemy any more leverage." Sasuke gave Naruto's hand a peck and changed the subject. "So, what do you want to do today?"

Naruto chuckled. "Besides you?" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"How about we go on a date?" Naruto had his elbow on the table, his chin resting in his hand. He was giving Sasuke that special smile. It was a smile he only got when he looked at his lover. He never smiled at anyone else like this. It was happiness in its purest form.

"A date huh? What did you have in mind?"

"I've heard that there is a really pretty waterfall in the mountains to the north of the village. Supposedly there's a crystal clear pool at its base. Not many people go there because it's hard to get too. We wouldn't have to worry about people being around. What do you think? Feel like going on an adventure?"

Sasuke was about to respond when they heard a knock at the door.

"Sasuke! Are you home?" It was Sakura. They looked at each other.

"Well, what do you say?" Naruto whispered.

"Anything is better than having to deal with Sakura." Sasuke whispered back. Another slightly louder knock sealed the decision. Naruto started quietly getting dressed. Sasuke grabbed their shoes from in front of the door.

"Hello! Are you in there?" _…Hmm, maybe he's still asleep. I know I saw on the schedule that he was off today…_ Sakura let her hand trail along the top of the door frame until her fingers touched the key.

Both Sasuke and Naruto looked wide eyed at the door when they heard the key engage the lock.

"How did she get a key?" Naruto whispered frantically as they gathered their things.

"She probably used the one you leave over the door, idiot. I told you that wasn't a good place to put it!" Sasuke whispered back in a scolding tone. The door handle began to turn.

"I'm coming in!" Sakura announced cheerfully.

A shirtless Naruto went flying out the window, Sasuke close on his heels. As he closed the window behind them the door opened. Sakura looked around the room.

"Weird, I thought for sure he would have been home. He's always home on Saturday." She looked around a bit more and sighed; she had been hoping they could hang out today. She would just have to stop by tomorrow.

Once Naruto and Sasuke had made it around the corner out of sight they had come to a stop, they had both let out sighs of relief and then proceeded to burst into laughter.

"I guess all that training finally came in handy!" Naruto joked as he pulled his shirt on.

"That key is moving."

xxx

On her way home Sakura had run into Ino and they had started talking.

"What are you doing today Sakura?"

"Well, I had been hoping Sasuke and I could hang out but he wasn't home." She sighed. "No matter what I do he never acknowledges me." Ino gave her a pat on the back.

"If it makes you feel any better it's the same for all of us. That's just how Sasuke is. I think he keeps his distance so that he can't get hurt again."

"I hadn't thought of it like that. I guess I can't really understand where he is coming from. Do think that's why he is still staying with Naruto even though he has his own place?"

"It would make sense, I mean they are both completely alone. They can understand each other's pain and be there for one another. It would seem that they have both matured and the time apart made them realize that they shared a powerful bond. They found friendship and family in each other. Together, those two will be unstoppable."

"I just wish he would let me in like he did Naruto. I feel like I could come to understand if he would just give me the chance."

"Have you told him that?"

"No." Sakura answered quietly.

"That may be a good place to start." Ino smiled. "I'm sure everything will work out, just give it time. He's only been back a few weeks and he was gone for almost five years."

"I guess you are right, thanks Ino, I feel a lot better."

xxx

Naruto and Sasuke had been hiking for hours through the think mountain forest to the north of the village. It was a hot day and both of them were drenched in sweat. Naruto had taken his shirt off and wrapped it around his head, his rock hard muscles glistened with sweat.

"You know, if you took your shirt off you could get a tan." Naruto looked over at Sasuke.

"I don't tan, I burn."

"It's all part of the process!"

"No thank you. Are you sure you know where you're going?"

"Well, if what I heard was right we should be almost there. Just through those trees."

"You said that a few trees ago too. Getting lost in the woods is not very high up on the list of good dates." Sasuke said sarcastically.

"You are always welcome to go back, I'm sure Sakura would love to hang out." The look on Sasuke's face made Naruto laugh. That had shut him up. It took another half hour before they started hearing the sound of rushing water. When they finally made it to the clearing they both stopped and stared. The water fall was absolutely breathtaking. Crystal clear water ran down the side of the mountain, lush plants and vibrant flowers grew all around. It was like an untouched paradise. They were both speechless. They made their way over to the edge of the pool that had formed at the base of the waterfall, it was like glass. Naruto started stripping off his hot sticky clothes.

"I don't know about you, but I'm going for a swim." Naruto dove into the crystal clear water. It felt good against his hot sweaty skin. He broke through the surface and took a breath. He turned and smiled at Sasuke. "Are you coming?" Sasuke answered by starting to take off his clothes. He watched Naruto floating on the surface of the water, he couldn't remember the last time he had been this happy. Even when his family had been alive he couldn't think of a time when he had felt this way. But the past didn't matter, Naruto was his family now. He had stolen his heart. Every time Naruto smiled Sasuke fell deeper in love with him. Looking into Naruto's eyes was like looking into the depths of this crystal clear pond, and they sparkled like the sun off the surface of the water. Not to mention his body, every inch was covered in rock hard muscle. Every time Naruto got undressed it sent excitement shooting through Sasuke's body like an electric shock, his touch leaving him breathless. He would lose his family ten times over if it meant his life ended up here. If he could change one thing it would be that he had realized his feelings for Naruto sooner and it hadn't taken him almost ending his lover's life for them to finally come together. Naruto had a scar on his shoulder from where Sasuke's hand had gone through him arm. It was a constant reminder of what could have happened. Sasuke shivered as he thought about how different things could have been. Luckily things had gone the way they had. Sasuke dove into the water, leaving behind all the what ifs and could haves. All that mattered now was the future. Their future.

The rest of the afternoon had been full of romance and relaxation. It had been a while since they had been able to relax so freely, normally even when they were home they were on edge, but they didn't have to worry about anyone walking in on them here. They had eaten a few snacks for lunch, they had barely been able to grab what they did before they took their leave out of their apartment window. They had even taken a little nap. Currently they were laying on a patch of comfortable grass procrastinating leaving their majestic secluded paradise. Naruto had his arms crossed behind his head, he watched as the clouds floated by. Sasuke was laying on his side propped up on his elbow. He was contentedly looking down at the face of his lover, he gently cupped the side of Naruto's face and turned it toward him. He thought he might drowned in his eyes. God, he was gorgeous. He leaned down and kissed Naruto gently, Naruto responded by wrapping his arms around Sasuke and pulling him into an embrace deepening the kiss. Sasuke gave in willingly letting his body rest against Naruto's. They stayed like that for a while just enjoying each other's gentle touch and loving kisses. Sasuke let his forehead rest against Naruto's.

"I love you Naruto."

"I love you too Sasuke." Naruto ran his hand through Sasuke's hair. "I hope you realize how happy you make me. I will never let you go." Naruto let out a sigh. "I wish we could stay here forever." Sasuke nodded his head in agreement.

"If we want to make it back before dark we will have to get started."

"Always the responsible one."

"Well you certainly aren't going to do it." Sasuke got up and extended his hand. Naruto took it reluctantly and they started making their way home.

xxx

When they finally made it home it was dark, Naruto fumbled around with the key for a few minutes before he finally got the door open. They were met by a very grumpy frowning Suigetsu.

"What the hell! I've been waiting for hours." He gave them his best "where have you two been" face.

"Sorry Suigetsu, we totally forgot. We kind of rushed out this morning." Naruto scratched the back of his head and let out an awkward chuckle.

"You didn't have to stay." Sasuke said coldly. Once they were inside they both flopped on the bed. Suigetsu sat at the table.

"Would it kill you to be a little bit less of a bastard?" Suigetsu asked Sasuke. "You could at least pretend to feel a little bad about forgetting."

"I've never been very good at pretending."

"Or being nice. Actually, now that I am thinking about it, there are a few areas that could use improvement. I'd be happy to point them..." A pillow sailed into Suigetsu's face. He glared at Sasuke. "So where were you guys anyway?"

"We went for a hike, it took a little longer than expected." Naruto explained. Suigetsu gave him a confused look.

"You took a hike, why?" Suigetsu looked like his brain was about to explode.

"Someone like you wouldn't understand, you walk ten feet and act like you're going to die. Like that one time I had to carry you because you laid down on the ground and refused to go any further."

"You know what Sasuke, when you become part fish and are then forced to travel hundreds of miles on land, then come talk to me." Suigetsu crossed his arms. "I am almost completely made of water!"

"How about lunch on us tomorrow?" Naruto offered in an attempt to make peace.

"You think you can bribe your way back into my good graces?"

"There's nothing graceful about you Suigetsu." Naruto elbowed Sasuke in the ribs.

"Is it working?" Naruto asked. Suigetsu thought for a moment.

"I pick the restaurant?"

"Sure."

"Very well, all is forgiven. I'll see you both tomorrow, meet at my place at noon."

"We will put it on our calendar!" Naruto followed Suigetsu to the door and locked it behind him. By the time he got back to the bed Sasuke had already stripped off all of his dirty clothes and was under the blankets. Naruto did the same, turning off the light as he climbed into bed and snuggled up to Sasuke.

"I thought you said you didn't have a calendar?"

"I don't." Sasuke chuckled.

"Good night Naruto." Naruto kissed him on the ear.

"Good night Sasuke."


	15. Sick Day

The next morning as they walked down the stairs on their way to work they noticed a small booklet that had fallen into the corner of the stairs. With all the craziness yesterday afternoon they hadn't noticed it. Naruto picked it up.

"What's that?" Sasuke peaked over Naruto's shoulder.

"It must be what we heard fall yesterday." He opened it and flipped through the pages. "It's a bunch of coupons for free ramen at Ichiraku's."

"Really?"

"Mhm. Sakura must have been coming over to give this to me." Naruto put the booklet in his pocket.

"How nice of her." Sasuke said sarcastically.

"Sasuke, I really am fine." Naruto didn't even have to ask, he knew Sasuke was still mad at Sakura for slapping him.

"Tch. So, do you think she told?"

"We will find out soon enough." They intertwined their fingers as they walked down the steps. "To be honest with you, I don't really care if she did." When they got to the bottom of the staircase Naruto took Sasuke's chin in his thumb and forefinger. "Have a good day a work babe." He kissed him gently. Every work day Naruto would give Sasuke a kiss at the base of the stairs and tell him to have a good day at work before they made the walk to the mission room. He would look into those dark obsidian eyes and promise to never take them for granted. On the reverse side, every night when they got home Sasuke would wrap him in a loving embrace and whisper welcome home in his ear. They were family. They reluctantly separated from one another and started walking. About half way there they bumped into Suigetsu.

"Yo!" He shouted as he waved. Naruto waved back. Sasuke as usual showed no reaction. Once Suigetsu got close he gave them a weird look. "Is everything alright? You don't seem as chipper as usual. Well, Sasuke you just look normal." Sasuke cracked his knuckles. Suigetsu squeaked and hid behind Naruto.

"Sakura saw us yesterday." Naruto admitted.

"What! What did she do? What are you guys going to do? How did she see you?"

"Suigetsu." Sasuke looked over at him. "Chill."

"Well, apparently she was coming over to give me this." Naruto handed Suigetsu the booklet. "We had just gotten home from lunch and were about to go inside when she saw us kissing. She tried to run away but we caught up with her. She slapped me." Suigetsu listened intently to the story. "We asked her to not tell anyone."

"Did she?" Naruto shrugged.

"No wonder you are so somber, you have no idea what you are going to be walking into. Do you want me to go first and check things out?"

"No." Sasuke answered quickly. "If no one knows now, they would by the time you got done "checking things out." Subtlety isn't really your thing." Sasuke was wearing his classic smirk.

"Hey! I can be subtle!" Suigetsu said defensively.

"Remember that time in that little village just outside of the sand when…" Sasuke was interrupted by Suigetsu.

"YOU PROMISED TO NEVER TALK ABOUT THAT!" Sasuke and Naruto couldn't hold back their laughter. Suigetsu muttered curses under his breath. The three came to a stop in front of the doors to the command center. The mission room was on the second floor. Naruto let out a sigh.

"Well, here goes nothing." The three walked inside together. They made their way over to the staircase, if anyone knew they sure weren't showing it. People rushed about getting missions, going to meetings, and writing reports. The occasional person would wave or say good morning, but for the most part everyone was involved in their own tasks. It seemed like a normal day. They stopped on the second floor.

"This is us, where are you going Suigetsu?"

"The advisory team has a meeting at nine with the Hokage to give a report. I'll see you guys later." He gave a wave as he headed up to Tsunade's office on the fourth floor. As Naruto and Sasuke made their way down the hall toward the mission room Tsunade walked up to them from the other direction.

"Ahh, Naruto. Just who I was looking for."

"I'll see you later." Sasuke said to Naruto, he gave a slight bow to Tsunade as he continued past her to the mission room.

"What's up Granny?"

"Stop calling me that." She let out an exasperated sigh. "I have a favor to ask of you. Sakura called out sick this morning, I drew up a healing tonic for her, can you please drop it off?" Naruto nodded.

"Report in for your other assignments once you return." Tsunade continued down the hall.

"Well this should be interesting." Naruto muttered to himself.

xxx

Sakura looked up when she heard a knock at the door. She had been in a daze since yesterday afternoon. She slowly walked over to the door and opened it. She was surprised to see Naruto standing there but she didn't react.

"What do you want Naruto?"

"Tsunade asked me to drop this off to you." He showed her the vile full of liquid. "Can we talk Sakura? Please." She moved out of the way to let Naruto inside. He set the small vile down on the living room table. Once the door was closed and locked Sakura gestured for him to sit down.

"Is this why you came by last night?" Naruto held up the booklet. Sakura nodded. "I really like it, thank you." He smiled at her. Even though she had been a royal pain in the ass the last few weeks she was his teammate and he hated to see her so upset. "Sakura I..." She interrupted him.

"I was coming over to apologize."

"Apologize?" Sakura wouldn't look up from her lap.

"I went and got you those coupons because I wanted to do something to make you smile instead of give you pain. I just wanted to do something right for once."

"Sakura..."

"Just listen Naruto. I'm sorry for all of the pain I've caused you. All you ever did was love me, you were never mean to me and you have always been there for me. I knew how much you liked me and I didn't care. I would throw myself at Sasuke right in front of you. I was a jerk. Even now, you are still being kind to me after what I did and said last night. I don't deserve it." Naruto took one of Sakura's hands and with the other tipped her chin up forcing her to look at him.

"Maybe you don't deserve it, but hurting you in return wouldn't have helped anything, not all those years ago, and not last night. I may have found love somewhere else, but that doesn't mean I don't still care about you. We're teammates. I will always have your back." They were both silent for a few minutes before Naruto spoke again. "I'm sorry you had to find out like that. I am sure it was startling in more ways than one. I realize that nothing I say will make the pain go away, in fact, anything coming from me will probably only make things worse but I want you to know the truth." Naruto soothingly stroked Sakura's hair. He was trying to be as gentle and compassionate as he could. He knew what it was like loving someone who didn't love you back and never would. He knew what it was like to have a broken heart. He understood pain in ways that only a few people could even fathom. Sasuke was one of those people. It was one of the things that made them cling so tightly to one another. "Sakura, I love Sasuke with all of my heart, he has become my family. He fills the hole that has been in my heart since the first day I realized that I was all alone. He understands everything I have been through like no one else can. Life broke us to fit together. He makes me happy and I know he feels the same." Sakura buried her face in Naruto's chest as he spoke, a fresh spring of tears darkening his shirt. "It would really mean a lot to me if you could be happy for us. I know I am asking a lot, and I don't expect you to be truly happy for us right now, but in the future as your heart heals if you could try that would mean a lot." Naruto could just barely make out a faint "I'll try" as she nodded her head against his chest, her voice muffled by his shirt. He continued to stroke her hair in a feeble attempt to comfort her. She pulled away still sniffling and looked him in the eyes.

"I promise I won't tell. I won't try to ruin your happiness. You and Sasuke both deserve to be happy. You've both been through so much, and have sacrificed so much it's your turn. I won't be the thing that stands in the way, not this time. I'm done causing problems."

"Thank you Sakura." Naruto pulled her into a hug. "Well, I gotta go, if you need someone to talk to about all this Suigetsu knows too, he has from the beginning." He stood up and walked over to the door. He looked back over his shoulder and smiled at her. "When you're ready, let's hang out."

Sakura didn't bother to get up and lock the door behind him. She couldn't help but feel like a complete idiot and she was angry at herself for it. She had spent all these years chasing after someone who didn't love her, all the while ignoring the person right in front on her. Naruto had never once been cruel or mean, he had always been by her side no matter what. Even when Sasuke had left and told her she was annoying she kept holding on to the hope that one day it would work out. All the while Naruto had been there, he had even promised her he would bring Sasuke back. He had always put her happiness first no matter the pain it caused him. She was a fool. She could've had a man that loved her faithfully and instead she threw it all away for something that could never happen and now she had lost both. Her dream, and the man that had loved her. She wasn't going to lose their friendship too. It was time for her to grow up.

xxx

"Welcome home." Sasuke had Naruto wrapped up in a tight embrace from behind. He gave him a peck on the ear before sitting down on the bed. "So, how was your day? I figured you must have gotten caught up in something when you didn't meet me to walk home. Did Tsunade send you to do something?"

"She had me bring medicine to Sakura this morning and then when I got back I still had all my missions to do. The last one was for that stingy old man with the rice patties to the south of the village. He had me pulling weeds for hours! I'm beat!" Naruto plopped down at the kitchen table.

"Sakura huh? I noticed she wasn't around today. Did she have anything to say?"

"We had a good talk actually. She promised not to tell anyone and feels really bad about what happened yesterday."

"Good, and she should." Sasuke crossed his arms. Naruto chuckled.

"You sure can hold a grudge." Naruto crawled over to Sasuke from where he had been sitting on the floor and slid between his legs wrapping his arms around his waist. "You need to learn to let things go."

"She hit you." Sasuke looked down at Naruto kneeling in front of him.

"Yeah, but it didn't hurt." Naruto gave Sasuke his best puppy dog eyes and pouty lip. "That's got to count for something, just forget about it."

"Tch. Fine whatever." Sasuke was defenseless against the puppy dog eyes and pouty lip.

"I never thought a Uchiha would be brought to submission so easily." Naruto smirked. Sasuke flopped back on the bed.

"Go shower, you stink."

"How about you join me?" Naruto said playfully.

"I already show..." Sasuke inhaled sharply when Naruto slid his hand up his pant leg and grabbed his manhood. Sasuke pursued him into the bathroom.

xxx

The bathroom was full of steam, hot water streamed down their naked bodies, Naruto had Sasuke pinned up against the wall, his hands over top of Sasuke's, gripping them tightly as he slowly thrust in and out. Sasuke's legs were wrapped around his waist, his rock-hard dick rubbing up against Naruto's flexed abs. His eyes were closed, his lips parted slightly in a silent expression of his pleasure. Naruto admired the sight before him. Sasuke's jet black hair clung to his face, bringing out the pink flush that had formed on his cheeks. With every thrust in and out Sasuke's breathing quickened, coming out in pants. Sasuke arched his back, squeezing Naruto more tightly with his legs trying to take him deeper. For Naruto, the fact that he had the always emotionless, cold hearted, dominating Uchiha pinned against the shower wall, flushed, and practically begging for him to fuck him harder made him go absolutely crazy. He was certain he was fucking a god. Naruto nibbled on one of Sasuke's nipples causing him to release a string of curses. He captured Sasuke's lips in a passionate kiss, releasing his hands, letting his own trail down Sasuke's sides and back up his abs, teasing his nipples. Naruto put one hand back against the wall for support, the other finding its way between Sasuke's legs to grip his already leaking cock. Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto's neck, his hands tangling in his mess of blond hair. Naruto broke their lip lock, leaning in close to Sasuke's ear.

"Sasuke...I love you with everything I am..." Sasuke replied with a moan that pushed Naruto further into oblivion. "Mmm, I love how you squirm..." Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hair and yanked his head back. He stared deeply into his eyes for a moment before pulling him into a desperate kiss. He was close, he wanted more, more of Naruto. He grabbed one of Naruto's nipples, and rubbed quick small circles. Naruto quickened his thrusts, pounding Sasuke into the wall. The hand between Sasuke's legs matching his thrusts. Sasuke cried out as his orgasm came crashing over him, pushing Naruto over the edge. They called out each other's name in ecstasy, as they rode out their orgasms together. As they slowly came down off their high Naruto slid out, they panted in unison. Sasuke put his feet back on the shower floor, his back still against the wall, his forehead against Naruto's, arms around his neck. Naruto had both hands up against the wall to either side of Sasuke.

"Damn I love that you're mine." Naruto said between breathes, giving Sasuke that special smile and pulling him close. After they spent a few more moment's catching their breath. They both rinsed one more time and then climbed out of the shower.

"Is that meeting with granny tomorrow?" Sasuke nodded.

"We are going to create a plan to track down and defeat Tobi aka Madara. He has been under ground for a while now, he is bound to make a move soon, we need to be ready. I don't like this waiting game."

"I agree with you there, I would rather be out doing something." They climbed into bed.

"I have a bad feeling that we are missing something important. I wish I could have gotten more information on his plan. He never fully trusted me."

"We will just have to do everything we can to prepare." Naruto laid his head on Sasuke chest. "We are going to have to face him together to even have a chance of defeating him."

"We need to figure out how to beat him at his own game, we need to get him playing on our terms not the other way around."

"I'm glad you are on our side of the fight." Sasuke kissed Naruto's forehead.

"Without me we both know you would attack first ask questions later. In order to beat Madara we need to question first and I'm on your side of the fight. It's you I'm loyal too. I will stand by your side until I breathe my last." Naruto smiled.

"Let's kill that bastard."


	16. Battle Plans

Naruto and Sasuke walked into the meeting room a few minutes before nine and took their seats. The room was full. Including them there were 13 people total. Shizune, Kakashi, Yamato, Koharu, Homura, Guy, Shikaku, Sai and Suigetsu were all seated around the table. Tsunade had yet to arrive; an additional empty seat was beside hers.

"Where's granny?" Naruto asked as he plopped down into his chair.

"She's coming; she went down to the front gate to welcome our guest." Shizune gave Naruto a knowing smile.

"Guest?" Before Naruto had a chance to push Shizune for more information the door swung open. Tsunade walked in, everyone was surprised by who came in behind her.

"Gaara!" Naruto yelled his name excitedly.

"Hello Naruto, good to see you again." He took his seat beside Tsunade.

"Everyone, please welcome the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara of the Sand." Everyone bowed their heads in a respectful greeting. "Let's begin." Tsunade put her elbows on the table intertwining her fingers, her signature move, well, other than punching her desks into splinters. "I'm sure some of you are surprised by Gaara's presence here. I requested that he come today. We are facing a threat bigger than our village alone, if Madara has his way he will destroy the entire world. For Gaara's safety we told no one of our plan to have him attend this meeting. The Sand is our ally. We will have a better chance of capturing and defeating Madara if we work together." Everyone nodded their agreement. "Our first order of business, Naruto…" Naruto looked over at Tsunade. "The elders and I have decided that you will go and train with the eight tails in The Village Hidden in the Clouds. He will teach you how to control the nine tails. Additionally, the Leaf is the first place Madara will look for you. He won't expect the two of you to be together. We have already confirmed with the Raikage. He has promised his full cooperation in this matter. Yamato."

"Yes, my lady."

"You will take a team of your choosing to escort and protect Naruto."

"I volunteer." Sasuke raised his hand.

"I'm sorry Sasuke, we need you here. Your input as well as Suigetsu's will be invaluable. Also, you are one of our strongest ninja, not to mention the only person with eyes that can even begin to compare with Madara's. If he attacks the village we will need you if we are going to have any chance of defending against his attacks." Sasuke was about to protest when he felt Naruto's foot kick his under the table. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the chair, his face stone cold. Once Tsunade was satisfied that Sasuke wasn't going to object to her decision she continued. "Yamato, once we are finished here gather your team quickly. You leave tonight." Despite his best effort to maintain his cold emotionless expression Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise, his mouth opening slightly. He was once again brought back by Naruto nudging his foot under the table; it was a little gentler this time. As if he was trying to say _I don't like it any more than you do but keep it together._ Sasuke quickly regained his composure. "Sai has been temporarily instated as Captain of the Anbu. Sasuke, I want you to work closely with him to help strengthen our defenses, help prepare the Anbu for whatever Madara may throw at us. I would also like you to work with our other ranks of shinobi. Suigetsu will continue to assist with the advisory board. We are depending on you both." Sasuke and Suigetsu nodded. "Excellent. Gaara?"

"I have been in contact with the Mizukage as well as the Tsuchikage, they have agreed to provide aid if the need should arise. They recognize that this is bigger than individual villages. They also granted safe passage through their lands. Should the need arise there is no need to be concerned for your safety in their territories. The Sand will of course be assisting in the search for Madara. This is now a joint effort."

xxx

The meeting went until late afternoon, leaving Naruto and Sasuke very little time to discuss what happened. They had walked home in silence. Sasuke had barely paid attention to the rest of the meeting. It had just been planning and reports, he would zone in if he heard his or Naruto's name mentioned and then zone back out. He was sitting on the bed watching Naruto pack. He sighed loudly, Naruto stopped packing and leaned against the kitchen counter crossing his arms. His tan skin and blond hair stood out against the light blue walls and white cabinets. They stared at each other.

"If you have something you want to say, just get on with it already." Naruto's fitted undershirt outlined his muscles. "You've been quiet all night, talk to me." Sasuke got up and started pacing. Naruto watched unmoving.

"I just don't like this. We need you to defeat Madara."

"Learning how to control the nine tails is only going to help. I don't like the idea of leaving the village when you are the only person even close to powerful enough to stand against Madara and hold your ground. We already established that the only way to win is to fight him together, but if he can do what Danzo did, loosening the seal on the nine tails, and I am assuming he can, until I gain more control I'm only a danger." Sasuke let out a frustrated growl.

"I can help you keep the nine tails in check, and I don't like not being able to go with you."

"I know you could, but if you are having to worry about you won't be able to fully focus on Madara, like Tsunade said you are the only..."

"I don't care what Tsunade says!" Sasuke's voice was raised. He marched over to Naruto and grabbed the front of his t-shirt. "Don't you get it? I don't care about the village!" He shouted. "I care about you, I'm loyal to you, not Tsunade, not the village, not to defeating evil, you!" Naruto watched him silently, letting him work through his emotions. "I have to keep you safe, I can't..." Sasuke's voice caught in his throat. "I can't lose you." Naruto pulled himself up to sit on the counter top and tugged on Sasuke's shirt drawing him into his arms.

"Shh, it's okay." Naruto cooed gently. Sasuke embraced him tightly and buried his face in Naruto's chest. Naruto ran his fingers through Sasuke's hair. "I don't want to leave you either, but I can't pass up this opportunity." He cupped Sasuke's face in his hands and made him look into his eyes. "I'll be okay, Yamato will put a good team together, and no one will know where I am. Just think of the chance you have to bring down the elders. With Sai head of the Anbu and you working closely with him, you will be in the perfect position to gather information on them. Also, you can put back all the Uchiha files I stole. I'm sure someone will want those in the near future. Take advantage of this, don't look at all the negatives." Their lips connected. It was a gentle, comforting kiss. Full of love and desire, they reluctantly separated. They stared into one another's eyes, Naruto clasped his ankles behind Sasuke's back and let his arms rest on Sasuke's shoulders. "Damn I'm crazy about you." They kissed again.

"Promise me you will be careful."

"As careful as I always am!" Naruto said confidently. Sasuke frowned.

"That doesn't make me feel better."

"Sasuke..."

"Hn."

"Please protect the village. Do everything you can to keep it safe. I realize I may be the only thing that you care about here, but I care, so please do this for me." Sasuke nodded.

"I will do everything in my power to let no harm come to the village." Naruto smiled.

"Thank you my love." They locked lips again and continued to enjoy the taste of each other until they heard a gentle knock at the door. The both sighed with disappointment. They knew who was at the door and they weren't ready. "Just a minute!" Naruto yelled as he slid down off the counter. He tried to walk over to the door but Sasuke pinned him against the counter. "Sasuke...what are you..." Sasuke gently lifted Naruto's shirt and caressed the seal marks that covered his stomach. Sasuke knelt down on the floor in front of Naruto making him tense.

"I'm giving you something to remember me by." He kissed along the top of Naruto's pants and started kissing up his body. Naruto's breathing quickened. Sasuke started to suck forcefully on the spots he kissed leaving little purple/red marks all over Naruto where his clothes would cover. Naruto chewed on his bottom lip to keep himself quiet. Once Sasuke was satisfied with the number of markings he gently kissed Naruto's neck and chin ending on his lips. They kissed passionately. Another knock at the door reminded them that they didn't have time to do anything further.

"I'm coming!" Naruto did his best to disguise how worked up he was. He took a few moments to breathe deeply and relax. The bulge in his pants finally subsiding. He quickly packed the last of his things and threw his pack over his shoulder. Sasuke walked with him over to the door. They embraced one last time and kissed one another intensely, knowing that it would be the last one for a while they made it count. When they finally separated they both had to take a few moments to regain their composure. They opened the door to find Kakashi leaning against the railing, arms crossed.

"About time."

"What the hell are you doing here Kakashi? Where's Yamato?" Naruto huffed.

"He sent me to come get you and then meet him at the front gate. He wanted to gather a few more supplies." The three of them started making their way to the gate. Naruto and Sasuke trailed a few steps behind Kakashi.

"So how long will we be gone?" Kakashi answered Naruto's question without turning around.

"As long as it takes. We are having to take a pretty obscure route in order to stay off of commonly traveled paths. The last thing we want is for Madara to discover that you and the eight tails are in the same place so we are being extremely cautious. Once we get there it just depends how long your training takes, that's on you."

"So, who is on the team?"

"Yamato, Guy and yours truly of course." Kakashi chuckled a little bit. "You didn't think I would let you go without me did you? Yamato and Guy certainly don't have the skills required to keep you out of trouble." As they approached the gate Yamato and Guy were waiting.

"Why hello Kakashi, care to join me in doing some pre-trip pushups?" Guy's voice was full of enthusiasm.

"No thanks Guy."

"Suit yourself!" He dropped to the ground and started powering out pushups.

"Well, I guess we are good to go. Is everyone ready to head out?" Everyone gave Yamato a nod when he looked at them. "Sasuke, please report to Lady Tsunade that we have set out."

"Well, I will see you when I get back, try not to miss me too much." Naruto gave Sasuke that special smile. He wanted nothing more than to pull his lover into his arms, hold onto him one last time. He hadn't expected it to be this hard to walk away from him, even though it was only temporary. They had been inseparable over the last few months.

"Don't do anything stupid."

"If you promise to try and play nice." They smirked at each other. "See ya." Naruto turned and the four of them started on their journey. Sasuke stood with his arms crossed watching. He felt like his heart was being pulled from his chest with every step Naruto took, he hated it. He could feel anxiety building in his chest and all he wanted to do was run and pull Naruto into his arms and kiss him. He wanted to hike up to their secret water fall oasis and stay there forever. He watched as Naruto clenched his fist, he was clearly trying to not turn back around for fear of what he might do. Sasuke couldn't help but think that this was the way the rest of their lives was going to be, one of them always having to leave for the sake of the village or someone else's happiness. He would give anything to look into those sparkling blue eyes every day, to see that special smile. _...Damn...he really is my weakness..._ Sasuke thought to himself. The sun was just beginning to lower in the sky encircling Naruto in light. In Sasuke's eyes even the sun paled in comparison to Naruto. Both his hands were in tight fists, he clenched his teeth.

"Fuck it." In seconds he closed the distance between him and Naruto, he grabbed him by the wrist and in one swift graceful movement whipped Naruto around. Kakashi, Yamato, and Guy all turned in surprise. It took a few seconds for the scene in front of them to fully register. Yamato's mouth dropped open, Guy gasped, and Kakashi's one visible eye widened. Sasuke had his arms wrapped tightly around Naruto's waist and kissed him without reserve. At first Naruto had been so surprised he had just looked at Sasuke wide eyed, but it only lasted an instant before Naruto returned his lovers kiss with equal passion. He firmly held Sasuke's face in his hands. "I love you." Sasuke looked deep into Naruto's eyes when he said it, letting his forehead rest gently against Naruto's. "Come back to me in one piece."

"I love you too Sasuke, and I promise I will." With that Sasuke was gone as quickly as he had appeared. Naruto turned around to his three shocked teammates, his face turning crimson. They started out once more in silence. Things had just gotten more interesting.


	17. Sai

Nel here, hope you all are enjoying, I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this chapter! Read away!

xxx

It was a few hours before anyone spoke. They were all trying to digest what they had seen earlier.

"So...how long?" Naruto blushed at Kakashi's question.

 _…_ _That asshole, swooping in and kissing me like that in front of Guy, Kakashi, and Yamato. He gets off scotch free without anyone in the village knowing and I'm left to talk about it with Kakashi…_

"Well, pretty much since I first ran into him in the woods on that mission, but everything happened so fast, and before we really had a chance to talk about what was between us we had to go and we didn't see each other again until the night I came home from the hospital. I guess you could say that night is when we officially got together."

"I see…and what exactly happened when you ran into him on the mission?" Kakashi asked the question hesitantly.

"About that…" Naruto chuckled awkwardly. "When I found him he tried to kill me. I actually have a pretty good scar on my shoulder from where his hand was sticking through me. If it weren't for the fact that I heal extremely fast from the nine tails chakra things would have been a lot worse."

"And what made him not kill you?" Naruto's face turned a darker shade of red at the question.

"He just couldn't…because, well, ya know." Kakashi sighed at Naruto's answer.

"No Naruto, I don't know, that's why I asked."

"We know now he couldn't do it because he loved me…but we didn't know that then. He just couldn't do it, I wasn't fighting back, and it would've been child's play for him to take my life. I was willing to die, but he couldn't kill me. He got angry about not being able to follow through and punched me a few times. When he started to leave I…well…uh…I yelled at him that I loved him and kissed him…"

"Is that all?" Kakashi asked sarcastically.

"Hey! It's not like we planned it this way! Not that I mind how things turned out…" Kakashi smiled underneath his mask.

"I'm happy for you Naruto, truly." He patted Naruto on the shoulder. "It's about time you found someone who makes you happy. I'll admit I was pretty surprised, especially finding out like I did, but I can't say it doesn't make sense, it definitely clarifies a few things. I can tell you love each other deeply."

"Thanks Kakashi. It actually feels really good to not have to keep it a secret. Other than the three of you no one knows except Suigetsu and Sakura." Until now the others had silently listened letting Kakashi do all the talking.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me!" Guy gave Naruto an energetic thumbs up. Yamato nodded his agreement.

"How did Sakura handle the news?" Kakashi asked.

"She slapped me." Kakashi let out a hardy chuckle.

"Sounds like her."

"Yeah, but she came to terms with it, at least I hope. We had a really good talk. So where are we headed?"

"The nearest port, the first portion of our journey is by boat. Right Yamato?" Yamato nodded.

"Well, I hope we get there quickly so I can start my training. The faster we can get this done the better!"

xxx

Sasuke had sent the first on duty ninja he found to alert Tsunade of the team's successful departure and had gone back to the apartment. He had laid down on the bed and was staring at the ceiling. The apartment felt empty, he longed for the feel of Naruto beside him, hungered for his warmth, he had known he was going to miss him, he had known it was going to be hard, but he hadn't expected it to be this hard, and so soon. The emptiness he felt was agonizing. What made it worse was having no idea when Naruto would return, and not being able to talk with him at all. Sasuke let out a sigh, Naruto was right about the opportunity this provided him, he would just have to focus on taking down the two remaining elders, he was certain that if he could provide enough evidence Lady Tsunade would happily support their removal from power, they had been a thorn in her side since she started. He had only seen them interact a few times, but with how quickly they made Tsunade's blood boil it was clear she did not like them, and never had. He could accomplish two things at once, distract himself from how much he missed Naruto, and get justice for all of the atrocities that had happened. First thing tomorrow morning he would go to meet with Sai, and if the opportunity presented itself, return those files. He turned onto his side and closed his eyes, he smiled as images of Naruto filled his mind and chuckled inwardly thinking about him having to explain everything to his teammates. It was early for bed, but he didn't care, he missed Naruto and he wanted to go to sleep where he could be with him in his dreams. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough, he would have his vengeance, the time for elders to answer for their crimes was coming. He was going to make sure of that.

xxx

When Sasuke woke up the next morning he pouted when he remembered that Naruto was gone and the empty feeling returned. He got up, showered, and had breakfast. He felt ridiculous, even though he knew Naruto was gone he couldn't help but feel like he was just going to show up. It sucked, big time. As he left the apartment he dreaded reaching the bottom of the steps, knowing that Naruto wouldn't be there to tell him to have a good day. He paused on the last step, the pain of Naruto's absence made him feel heavy, the feeling of longing intensifying. He leaned against the side of the building, crossing his arms. He clenched his teeth.

"Get it together Sasuke, you're a mess." He scolded himself for letting the situation get to him so much. He took a deep breath. "I love you Naruto...stay safe." He whispered. He stepped onto the ground and headed for the Anbu headquarters. It was a beautiful day, the sun shone brightly and white puffy clouds floated through the clear blue skies. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves in the trees, it was just enough to keep the day from being too hot. The breeze tousled Sasuke's jet black hair, wisps brushed against the leaf insignia etched into the metal plate of his headband. The Anbu headquarters loomed into sight as Sasuke drew closer. He couldn't help but smirk as he thought about Danzo's body rotting in whatever ravine Suigetsu had found for him. With how close Naruto had come to dying he wished he could bring him back to life just so he could kill him again, Danzo deserved to die 10,000 times over for all of the things he had done. As he approached the main entrance the Anbu stationed to either side of the doors pulled them open to let him pass. He went straight to the main office, he knocked twice before entering. Sai was standing looking out the window.

"Ah, Sasuke, good, you're here." Sai walked around to the front of his desk. "I believe we have a lot to discuss." Sasuke nodded.

"I figured I could start by looking at your files, see what you already have and build from there. I would like to brief as many people at once as possible, the less time it takes the better, then they can assist in getting the word to everyone else."

"Sounds like a plan. I will have someone show you to the records room as soon as we are done here."

 _...Score...and I was worried about how I was going to return the files...I will never get a better chance than this to get intel on the elders..._

Sasuke returned his attention to Sai from his inner thoughts. "That would be great, thanks. I would also like to set up a few different times to do drills and combat training, Madara is like nothing anyone has ever faced before, if they want to have even the slightest chance of surviving against him, should they have the displeasure of facing him, they have to be prepared and smart about it."

"Whatever you say Sasuke, anything you need, you are our best chance against him and I trust you. This is out of my league, I will be learning along with everyone else." Sasuke nodded.

"I'll draw up a list of necessary items and a template of training times."

"Very good." Sai sat down behind the desk. "One last thing before you go." Sai reached under the desk and pulled up a canvas. "I've had this for a little while, I was trying to decide when the best time would be to give it to you and Naruto..." Sai's signature smile hadn't left his face. Sasuke stared expressionlessly at the canvas in Sai's hands. "I figured with Naruto being gone for an indefinite period of time you would like to have it, I hope you like it." Sasuke raised one eyebrow as Sai handed the canvas to him. When he turned it around his mouth fell open in shock. He stared at the painting in his hands for a few moments before looking up at Sai.

"This...you were...so all this time?" Sai nodded, the smile still on his face.

"I'm not very good with understanding people's emotions, at least not yet, but even I could tell that that moment was something special, it is still crystal clear in my memory."

Sasuke looked back down at the painting, it was his and Naruto's first kiss. Sai had captured it in perfect detail. The churning dark sky, the pouring rain, Naruto covered in his own blood, tears mingled with rain drops on both of their faces. Their eyes were closed, Naruto's injured arm hung limply at his side, while his other hand cupped Sasuke's face. They were pressed against each other, Sasuke hand one hand tangled in Naruto's hair the other around his neck. They were locked in a passionate kiss. Sasuke dropped into one of the chairs in front of Sai's desk. He couldn't tare his eyes away from the vivid image, it was like he was there. All the different emotions he had felt that night welled back up in his chest. It took his breath away. It was a few minutes before he could speak.

"Thank you Sai, and not just for the picture, why did you keep everything a secret?"

"Well, as soon as Naruto asked to split up on that mission I knew something was up. I used my art based jutsu to fly to the hide out I was supposed to check out, it was a dud, so I flew right back, and tracked Naruto to the lake. I got there right when you plunged your sword into its sheath instead of Naruto. I thought about getting involved, but I decide to just observe. I knew how much you meant to Naruto, I figured he would have a better chance of bringing you back if I didn't get involved, but I was there if things went south. I learned more about love and friendship in those moments than I could ever learn from reading books. I followed you at a distance until I knew you were both safe, then I returned to camp. I trust Naruto, he is my friend, so when he didn't tell me anything about what had happened I figured he must have a good reason so I didn't tell either. If there is one thing I am good at it is keeping secrets. Everything seems to have fallen into place quite well, which only serves as proof that my trust in Naruto wasn't misplaced. I painted that because there was incredible emotion in that moment. It was powerful. So, I guess you could say I kept what had happened a secret because I believed in what I saw in that moment. I still do. I am on your side."

Sasuke gently touched the painting and smiled. Naruto sure did have a way with people. He had a special way of making people do things they never thought they would. He was a light in a dark world, no one could stay in the darkness when he was around. Naruto always gave people the benefit of the doubt and never gave up on them, he was relentless. Looking at the face of his lover he felt pride and joy. Naruto had accomplished so much and he wasn't going to stop anytime soon. Sasuke hated to think of what his life would have been if Naruto had given up on him, the only word he could think of to describe what it would've been is dark. Thanks to Naruto he had light, and he had love. Naruto brought him joy.

"I've never been very good at talking about my feelings...but please know that I am beyond grateful to you, I know Naruto would say the same." Sai's smile got a little bigger at Sasuke's words.

"Your reaction said it all. I'm looking forward to working with you. I'll have someone show you too the records room." Sasuke carefully placed the painting into his backpack. It was only a few seconds before an Anbu appeared in the room. Sai and Sasuke shared a nod and he was guided from the office to the record room.


	18. This Means War

Nel here, sorry for making you wait so long, I've been crazy busy. I hope you find it was worth the wait! =]

xxx

It had been almost three weeks since Naruto had left the village. Every morning before heading to work Sasuke would stop at the bottom step and whisper to Naruto that he loved him and to be safe. Days weren't too bad; he stayed busy with training regiments, reports, and meetings. He had three trainings scheduled every day and would squeeze in the reporting and meetings anywhere he could. Any spare time he had left he spent plotting against Koharu and Homura the two remaining elders. Even with access to the Anbu files it was proving challenging to find a way to take them down, their talons reached far and dug deep. Once an opportunity finally presented itself it would make their fall even harder, but for now Sasuke waited. When night rolled around it was an entirely different story. Nights were insufferable. Many nights Sasuke would work through simply because he didn't want to go back to the empty apartment, others he spent with Suigetsu. He had always been a loner and yet here he was doing anything he could to avoid being alone. When he laid down at night and everything was quiet and he was alone Naruto's absence and how much he missed him would tear into him like a ravenous animal, ruthless and relentless. He would be miserable until he finally faded into sleep. He just wanted Naruto home.

Currently Sasuke was making his way to Tsunade's office for a meeting; he had just finished up the morning training session his skin glistened with sweat in the sun. It was a hot day. He made a quick stop on his way to splash some cool water onto his face. It made him think of the day he spent with Naruto at their secret paradise. What he would give to be there with Naruto now. He let out a sigh. Naruto would be the death of him; the person he used to be was certainly dead. He was not the man he once was, which wasn't a bad thing; it was just taking some getting used too. When he entered the Tsunade's office, Shizune, the two elders, Suigetsu, and Sai were all present. Sasuke noted the four other individuals in the room that he didn't recognize.

"Ah, good you've arrived. We are ready to begin." At Tsunade's words everyone quieted down. "Sasuke, I can tell that you are wondering who these four are." Tsunade gestured to the group beside her. "I requested that each Kage send a representative to sit in on this meeting and report any updates from them as well as report back on what we discuss." Sasuke nodded his understanding. "Please summarize your report for us Sasuke."

"Training is going well. As expected the Anbu picked up on the skills quickly and have been a big help with training the rest of the shinobi ranks. Sai especially has been an asset. Everyone has taken the training seriously and has been putting their all into getting stronger and have been progressing well. With more time I am certain they will be ready for anything Madara might throw at them. All of the details are written in my report."

"This is good news, thank you Sasuke." Tsunade nodded to the next person in line to give their report.

xxx

It was nearly twelve thirty when they finally broke for lunch; the meeting had started at nine. They still hadn't even gotten to the four representatives yet. Sai, Suigetsu and himself had given verbal summaries of their reports and then the group had painstakingly gone through the details of each of their full reports asking the occasional question here and there. Sasuke walked over to the table of refreshments and frowned. No tea in sight. He reluctantly poured some black sludge into his cup.

"You must be dead on your feet to have gone for the coffee. Pull another all-nighter?" Sai walked up beside him.

"Tch." Sasuke grimaced when he took a sip from his cup. Sai's grin widened a bit at his reaction. The two had been working closely over the last few weeks and had become good friends. Sai's lack of ability to read emotions and Sasuke's lack of ability to show emotion made them a perfect yet unusual pair. They rarely spoke but always understood each other. "If only Shikamaru was here to tell us what a drag it is." They both smirked at Sasuke's joke.

"I have this uneasy feeling like we are missing a piece of the puzzle. There must be more to Madara's plan." Sai frowned.

"You read my mind. I don't like just waiting for him to make a move. Have any of the teams picked up on any leads?"

"Nothing, there's not a trace." Sasuke frowned with annoyance at Sai's answer.

"Maybe the four representatives will have something to report." Sai shrugged in response. The meeting was about to begin again when the air at the center of the room began to move in an unnatural almost tangible way. Everyone stared in astonishment except for Sasuke, he already knew what was happening. As soon as Madara appeared he had him locked in a genjustsu. He knew it wouldn't hold him for long, but it didn't need it too.

"Ah, so it's true, you have rejoined the Leaf, Sasuke." The deep voice was full of malice. "Did you really think I would be fooled by this genjutsu?"

"No. I wanted to talk in private." Madara raised an eyebrow.

"I'm listening."

"All I care about is getting revenge, the only reason I am here now is because it was the easiest way for me to take down the elders. I'll admit, it's taking a bit longer than anticipated, but if I can take them down without dying in the process then it's worth it. I killed Deidara to gain everyone's trust. Fooling these idiots was child's play. I didn't even have to use genjutsu."

"Are you trying to tell me that this whole time you've been on my side and you haven't betrayed me? I'm not foolish enough to trust you."

"Tch." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Did I say that? I've never cared about your plans." His words bit like frostbite. "I followed you until it was no longer advantageous for me. You act as if you were actually surprised when I left. Perhaps you're just another fool. Nevertheless, I believe we can help each other out."

"Is that so? And what could you possibly have that I would want?" Sasuke let out a mischievous chuckle.

"The location of the eight and nine tails of course. Without my help, it will take you months if not years to find them. All the while, they will be growing stronger." Madara eyed Sasuke suspiciously.

"And what do you want?"

"Kill the elders."

"That's it? How will I know that what you tell me is the truth?"

"I will take you there myself. Once the elders are dead there will be nothing left for me here. Do we have a deal or not?" Sasuke and Madara stared at each other in silence for what seemed like forever.

"You don't want to kill them yourself? You would be content with them dying by my hand instead of yours?"

"Dead is dead. I grow tired of this. Your answer?"

"Very well, I agree." The words slithered out of Madara's mouth like a snake accompanied by an evil laugh. "You never cease to entertain Sasuke." He broke the genjutsu and faced the room full of people. Looks of astonishment still on their faces. What had been minutes in the genjutsu had not even been micro seconds in the real world. They could have talked for as long as they liked and it would have made no difference. That was the beauty of it, you could cause someone endless pain in less time than it takes to blink your eye. An eternity in a second.

"Madara!" Tsunade yelled. Everyone in the room went into fighting position. Sasuke followed suit for show. "What do you want?"

"Simple really." Madara's voice grew dark. "War." Shock returned to every one's faces again. "The world will bend to my will. Nothing will stop me." In a flash he was behind the elders, no one even had time to react. "Yours will be the first blood that's shed." Koharu and Homura tried to fight back but they didn't stand a chance. He had both of their necks firmly in his grasp. "Consider this a warning, if you do not submit you will suffer the same fate." His fingers dug into the side their throats blood wetting his fingers. In one swift movement he tore their jugulars, blood spraying violently throughout the room. The elders released blood curdling screams as they collapsed to the floor in pools of their own blood.

xxx

When Madara appeared suddenly behind the elders Sasuke looked over at Sai. When they locked eyes he caught him in his genjutsu.

"Sai, I need you to trust me. Do nothing."

"You have a plan." It was more of a statement than a question.

"I'm going to take him to Naruto and the eight tails."

"Do you think that wise?"

"He is no match for the three of us together." Sai nodded.

"Very well. I understand. Before you go I need to give you something. Please be prepared it may be a little uncomfortable." Sasuke gave him a questioning look but just nodded his head.

"Thank you." He said as he released the genjutsu.

xxx

Everyone sprung into action at once as the elders fell to the floor. Madara laughed evilly. As everyone launched their attacks Madara simply disappeared and reappeared behind Sasuke.

"I'll be taking him with me. He can be of use to me." Just as Madara tried to grab Sasuke and pull him into his portal Sai tackled Sasuke to the floor. Using his scrolls he created a barrier around them as everyone launched new attacks at Madara.

"Sai I thought you agreed to..." Sasuke was cut short by Sai's lips connecting with his. His eyes widened and just as he was about to push Sai off he felt him slide something into his mouth and push it to the back of his throat with his tongue. They separated just as Madara materialized inside of the barrier Sai had created.

"It's useless, you cannot keep him from me." Madara grabbed onto Sasuke and they vanished.


	19. Time to Prepare

Nel here, hope you all enjoy this next chapter! There is quite a bit going on in here but I took extra time and care to try and make it flow smoothly and make sense. There is a little bit of a time hop halfway through so hold onto your reading glasses! =] Until next time!

xxx

"Yeah! We finally made it!" Naruto cheered when their boat made contact with the island. Guy jumped out and started kissing the ground.

"Land sweet land!" Tears of joy streamed down Guy's face. Kakashi and Yamato just laughed. It had quickly become apparent that sea travel was not for Guy, but he had endured his sea sickness like a champ.

"Well Naruto, just a little way up the island is a temple. Killer B should be waiting for you outside to begin your training. No time to waste!" Kakashi gestured for Naruto to run along. "We will be there as soon as we unload the boat."

"Alright!" Naruto took off running.

xxx

Everyone in the room was going crazy, Shizune knelt next to elders closing their eyes. Tsunade had used every vulgar word she possessed in her vocabulary and was barking orders, Sai hadn't even had a chance to get up off the floor yet, and Suigetsu had quickly overcome his initial shock and had started assisting Shizune with the bodies.

"Things have just changed! Madara has declared war, not only has he killed our own but he has kidnapped one of our most valuable resources, and one of our friends. I will not stand for this!" Tsunade stood in front of the four representatives. "Report back to your Hokage's at once and tell them that I am calling a Five Kage Summit. It is time for action." The four nodded furiously not wanting to incur her wrath and quickly headed out. "Sai!" She turned to him. "Put the Anbu on high alert immediately."

"Yes, my lady." Sai disappeared.

"Suigetsu, is there any way to track them?" He looked up from helping Shizune.

"Not that know of and even if there was I think he took the one person who could."

"Damn it! Damn it all!" Tsunade punched her desk and it split in half.

"My lady! Please calm down, we can't keep replacing desks like this!" Shizune pleaded. Tsunade let out an exasperated sigh.

"Get these bodies to the coroners. We will need to begin preparations for a service." Shizune and Suigetsu nodded.

"Yes, my lady."

xxx

When Madara reappeared in the woods outside of the village he let Sasuke out.

"Well that was quite the show." Sasuke said flatly.

"Take me too them."

"I will, just know it is going to take some time to get there if we don't want to draw attention to ourselves. Additionally, once we get there I will only be able to tell you the general vicinity of their location. I've never cared to know and you pulled me away so hastily instead of giving me time to gather more intel and meet up with you." Sasuke chastised him.

"The vicinity will do. Just get moving." Sasuke just shrugged and started walking. Over the next few hours Sasuke told Madara what he knew. That Yamato, Guy, and Kakashi had taken Naruto to some top-secret location somewhere in the Raikage's territory to train with the eight tails jinchuriki. When they finally stopped for the night Sasuke was exhausted. Since he hadn't had time to pack anything he just made himself comfortable with his back against a tree. Once he was sure his companion wasn't watching him he reached into his mouth and pulled out the small object Sai had passed to him earlier. It had slid into the back of his throat and had been choking him all day. It had also made it challenging to talk. Which he had done an uncharacteristically large amount of throughout the afternoon. He looked at the small black pouch in his hand, it had a note on it.

 _5 ink messenger birds. Use them wisely._

Sasuke smirked and silently thanked Sai. Receiving them certainly had been uncomfortable but they were worth it. They were a lifeline. When this was finally over, they would look back and laugh, well, maybe, you never really know with Sai. He put them safely in a pocket and closed his eyes as he leaned his head against the tree. All he could think about was how much of a pain traveling with Madara was going to be. To his surprise, he didn't really feel any different since the Elders deaths. Sure, he was glad they had finally gotten what they deserved, but it wasn't his priority anymore. He only cared about Naruto now. Nothing else mattered. Naruto was his family and it was time to leave the past where it belonged and focus on the future.

xxx

Naruto flopped down on the ground and leaned his back against the wall, he panted as he tried to catch his breath. He had been sparring Killer B for hours in the special room that was able to withstand two tailed beasts fighting at nearly full force. Even though the last month had gone by quickly the days had felt agonizingly long. It had taken almost three weeks to reach Killer B, but ever since they arrive Naruto had been putting his all into training. He had made astounding progress for it only having been a week. He was determined to make quick work of his training so that he could get back to Sasuke. Every day they were apart was an opportunity for Madara. The thought of Sasuke and the village having to face Madara alone made him feel sick. Sasuke was incredibly powerful and without a doubt the only one close to capable of going toe to toe with that evil bastard but even he was outmatched. They had to do this together or all would be lost.

"Yo, Naruto, you tired bro? I'm thinking maybe it's time to go! Ow!"

"Yeah, I think I am done for the day, nine tails chakra mode really takes it out of me." Naruto groaned as he got up from the ground, everything hurt.

"Working with the nine tails ain't no joke, if you ain't careful you'll get broke! Ow!" Killer B's constant rhyming and rapping always lifted his spirits, even if it was horrible. When they came out of the room Kakashi was waiting.

"Finally done hm?" Kakashi scanned the two of them for any major injuries.

"Yeah, I'm exhausted and starving!" As if in response to Naruto's words, his stomach growled.

"Well you're in luck, Yamato just finished making dinner a little while ago."

As the three made their way to camp Naruto's thoughts drifted to Sasuke. During the day he was always so busy with training it kept him distracted but at night Sasuke was always on the forefront of his mind and he missed him like crazy. When he had packed for this trip he had taken one of Sasuke's shirts and wore it to bed every night. It still had a faint trace of his scent and helped ease the ache in Naruto's heart a little bit. Once they got back to camp Naruto had scarfed down three bowls of the so called "dinner" Yamato had made, changed, and was laying on his sleeping mat. His body felt heavy with fatigue, but as tired as he was his mind was restless. He felt such a weight to finish up his training, even though in only seven days he had gone from barely being able to control the nine tails chakra when a third tail appeared to being able to maintain full nine tails chakra mode for hours he wasn't done yet. He closed his eyes and vividly recalled the first day of training, even though it had only happened a few days ago it felt like eons...

xxx

...He had been sitting at the center of a grassy hill in the center of a shallow stream. Before him a small waterfall cascaded over the rocks keeping the water flowing at a smooth pace. He had his legs crossed and his hands rested in his lap. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath relaxing all of his muscles. Suddenly he was face to face with himself. He jumped back.

"Whaaa! What the hell is this?" The darker version of himself merely chuckled.

"I'm you, can't you tell? I am the embodiment of how you truly feel. Face it Naruto, you hate the village and everyone it in, think of how they treated you, what they did to you. They only accepted you because it benefited them, they don't really care about you!"

"No! That's not how I feel!" Naruto screamed at himself. "I love the village, and they only did all those things because they were scared, they didn't know any better!"

"Stop making excuses for them! No one cares about you, not even your friends, they only put up with you because they have too!" His darker self wore a scowl that could kill and spit the words like venom. "All because of the nine tails, you should just kill yourself and take him with you!"

"Stop it! That's not true! You don't know anything!"

"But Naruto, I do. I know everything about you, I am you, and I know that's how you feel." Naruto lost it at that and snapped back to reality, beads of sweat had formed on his brow.

"How did it go Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"Horrible! That was the worst thing ever!" Naruto fell onto his back and let out a frustrated sigh.

"To overcome the nine tails, you must first overcome all yo fails! YOW!"

"What does that even mean?" Naruto whined.

"In order to win the internal battle you are going to fight with the nine tails you have to face all your feelings of hatred, he feeds off of your hatred. If you do not face the darkness inside you, when the time comes you will lose." Naruto gave Yamato a puzzled look.

"And you got all that from his rap how?" Yamato chuckled at Naruto's comment but didn't give any further clarification.

Needless to say it took him a few tries before he succeeded but he defeated the darkness within himself.

xxx

He certainly was glad that part of training was behind him. A tear slid down his face as he thought about meeting his parents. He could still hardly believe it. Parts of them had been sealed away inside of him waiting for the moment when he undid the seal completely to face the nine tails and take control of his chakra. Without them he may not have been able to succeed. He had only had a few moments with them but they had been the best moments. He had been so confused at first when the Fourth Hokage appeared to him, but when he admitted to being his Dad it clarified a few things. So many emotions had welled up inside at that moment. At first, he was angry at his dad but then he realized it wasn't worth wasting precious moments and it switched from angry to overjoyed. They had held each other and cried and shared a few words before he vanished for good. Then there was his mom, she was amazing. Gorgeous and amazing. How he wished they could have stayed. Meeting them had filled an emptiness that had always been there but broke his heart at the same time. He couldn't wait to get home to Sasuke and tell him all about it. Thinking about that brought a smile to his lips. What an eventful week it had been. His eyes had grown heavy and sleep was finally beginning to take over, he gave in willingly.


	20. One Step Ahead

"Are you sure you know where you're going?"

"Yes." Sasuke responded shortly. "How many times are you going to question my directional ability, would you like to lead?" Madara didn't respond. Sasuke was beginning to think that he didn't have the resolve to stick to his plan of making their travel take as long as possible. He wanted to give Naruto as much time as he could but Madara was the worst traveling companion ever. He was ten times worse than Suigetsu had ever been. It had only been a week since the whole fiasco in Tsunade's office but it felt like a thousand years. A thousand horrible years. It was as if he was trapped in Tsukuyomi but the caster had a twisted sense of humor. "See I told you." Sasuke gestured to the faint glow of town lights. "There is a nice secluded inn on the far side of that town. We can stop there for the night."

At the start of their journey Sasuke had sent a messenger bird to Sai telling him that they would be making a stop at the Misty Inn and that he should send any intel he had there and put it under the name Suke Ahihcu. He picked Suke simply because of Naruto and Ahihcu was Uchiha spelled backwards. He had also told Sai that he had a plan and would send him a letter with a more detailed explanation from the same name. He was anxious to get there so that he could check for any mail and get away from Madara, unless things had changed, the inn had a nice bath area.

When they arrived darkness had just fallen, Madara asked for two rooms, when she asked for a name he gave Tobi. It was clear she was used to dealing with all kinds of travelers and was happy to bypass all the small talk. She took the money and handed back two keys.

"Enjoy your stay."

Once Sasuke was alone in his room he let out a sigh of relief. He undressed and put on the complimentary robe that was on his bed. Before heading to the bath he hid the pouch containing the four remaining messenger birds. Better safe than sorry, Madara might come search his stuff. Just before he reached the bottom of the stairs on his way to the bath house he used a transformation jutsu to change into an average looking women and walked up to the reception desk.

"How can I help you?"

"I just wanted to see if any mail had come for me?"

"What's the name?"

"Suke Ahihcu." Sasuke leaned casually against the desk while the lady went to check in the back. It wasn't long before she returned with an envelope in hand.

"Here you go Suke."

"Thank you." Once Sasuke was out of sight he released the jutsu. He sat on one of the benches in the changing room of the bath house and opened the letter.

 _Upon contact with any liquid this letter will dissipate. Due to the events that transpired during the meeting Tsunade has called a Five Kage Summit, it will take some time to organize but I am sure that by the end of the week the Kage's will be on their way. I am anxious to receive word of your plan as things are in a very tumultuous state. I trust you, even if I do not completely agree. However, I cannot assist you to the full extent of my abilities when I do not know what is going on. Send word as soon as possible. Additionally, I apologize for kissing you; it was the only way to quickly give you the messenger birds, although I can't say it was entirely unpleasant._

 _I await your response. Stay safe._

Sasuke smirked. The important part of the letter was the summit, but he was still stuck on the end. Sai had made a joke. That was more surprising than any summit. Nothing could have prepared him for that. It certainly was amusing to say the least. Sasuke undid his robe and walked over to the bath. As he got in he tossed the letter watching it vanish almost instantly when it touched the water. After he relaxed for a bit he would write his response to Sai. Whether he wrote the letter now or in a little while it would still go out with the morning mail, so why not relax first. He closed his eyes and let his thoughts drift to Naruto, the warm water pulling the tension from his muscles. Just a little while longer and all this would be over.

xxx

Tsunade released a sigh of relief when her and Shizune finally exited the main gate. It had taken a week to get everything together for the summit. A bit longer than she would've liked but it was no easy task getting the five Kage all together. They had made the meeting place some godforsaken tundra in the Land of Iron. She understood the reasoning because it was neutral ground but why couldn't they have a picked a deserted tropical island or something? Well, if things went her way they wouldn't be there for very long. There was no time for petty squabbles. They needed to work together to make and clear plan and strike a lethal blow to Madara. They needed to be united.

xxx

Sasuke sat at the small desk in his room. He had been reluctant to leave his peaceful bath but it had gotten late and he still needed to write to Sai. He let out a big yawn and stretched, it would be a while before he had an opportunity relax like this again so he was making the most of it. He started his letter.

 _It is imperative that you get to that summit and convince all of the Kage to head for Naruto and the eight tails location. The more people we have on our side the better. I am sure Madara has plans of his own, he would not try to take two tailed beasts on his own. Naruto and I will need back up so that we can focus on Madara. Fortunately, I do not know the exact location of where they are training, I can use that to our advantage. I will try to drag out the process as much as possible, but I will only be able to delay so long before he becomes suspicious. I can buy another three weeks, a month at most. Assuming I don't kill myself before then, I never thought an evil mastermind would be such a horrible traveling companion. Thank you for putting your faith in me in this matter, you are putting your ass on the line and I will never forget it. This will all be over soon._

 _See you soon._

He sealed the letter in on envelope and addressed it to the Anbu HQ in the Leaf Village and wrote Suke Ahihcu in the upper left corner. He was about to head down to the lobby to put it in the mail when there was a knock on his door. He slid the letter deep into the pocket of his robe.

"Come in."

"The door is locked." The deep voice replied.

"Tch." Madara materialized in the center of the room.

"I was just being polite." Sasuke rolled his eyes. There was no end to this guy's weirdness.

"What do you want?"

"Just to talk."

"Go ahead and talk then." Madara made maintaining his signature unreadable face, sarcasm, and negative attitude easy. Not a day went by when he didn't think about stabbing him in the back with a kunai. His ability to become transparent on demand was beyond annoying.

"Now that everyone responsible for the death of your clan is dead what will you do? You've fulfilled all of your goals so what will you pursue next?" Sasuke answered the questions to himself in his head. What would he do? Naruto. What would he pursue? Naruto. He could tell that Madara had some scheme cooked up. He listened even though he didn't care. "We are the last remaining Uchiha's, we could rule the world together, we would be unstoppable." Sasuke inwardly rolled his eyes. How cliché.

"No thanks." Madara sat quietly for a few moments.

"You intrigue me Sasuke. Just know that if you don't stand with me, you stand against me. The offer remains if you change your mind." He disappeared from the room. Sasuke waited a few minutes before heading down stairs to mail the letter. Once again at the bottom of the steps he transformed and then walked up to the reception desk.

"Oh, Suke, it's pretty late, what can I do for you?"

"Please send this letter, highest priority." She took the letter and stamped it with the letters HP in bright red.

"Anything else?"

"No, thank you."

"Sleep well." Sasuke gave her a nod and went back to his room.

xxx

"Sir! This just arrived sir!" An Anbu came bursting into Sai's office, he bowed and held out an envelope." A letter from a Suke Ahihcu just arrived. It's post marked highest priority."

... _Indeed it is..._ Sai thought to himself. "Thank you. You may go." He took the letter and opened it where he stood. He frowned as he read. ... _Convince the five Kage to go to the location of Naruto and Killer B, no problem Sasuke, is that all? Fuck you. I'm glad he's a horrible traveling companion..._ After he finished grumbling to himself he reread the letter and burnt it. Tsunade already had two days on him, he would like to inform her prior to addressing the other Kage but if he couldn't catch her he would just have to improvise. He walked out of his office doors and addressed the two Anbu guards. "Get me the ten highest ranking Anbu that are available to leave now. They should be waiting at main entrance of HQ when I get there."

"Yes sir!" Both Anbu said in unison and disappeared.

"What a fiasco this is turning out to be." Sai said to himself as he made his way through HQ. For such a quickly formulated plan on Sasuke's part it just might work, they were finally a step ahead of Madara instead of the other way around. This was their chance. When he reached the main entrance ten Anbu were waiting.

"What's going on sir?" One of the Anbu asked.

"We're leaving. A mission of unprecedented importance was just brought to my attention." Sai wore his classic smile. "I'll brief you on the way, but before we go, I need someone to bring me Suigetsu."

"Suigetsu sir?" Another Anbu asked.

"Yes, thank you for volunteering." The Anbu vanished to find Suigetsu. Everyone else refrained from asking anymore questions to avoid volunteering themselves for things. About ten minutes later the Anbu reappeared with Suigetsu. He was slung over the Anbu's shoulder and had a bag on his head. The Anbu dropped him on the ground in front of Sai and pulled the bag off.

"What the hell man! What was that about? Oh...Sai...why are you here?"

"My apologies, I asked him to bring you to me. Apparently, I should have been a bit more specific with my instructions on how you were to be brought to me." Sai smiled down at Suigetsu.

"You think! I was walking down the street when this guy jumped me, put that bag on my head, and carried me across the city. Not to mention he could have put me down more gently, asshole." Suigetsu gave the Anbu a nasty look. "So, what's this all about?"

"We are going to help Sasuke and Naruto. I'll explain the rest on the way." Sai pulled his mask down over his face. He gave a hand signal and all of the Anbu dispersed into the forest around them. Sai looked at Suigetsu. "Try not to fall behind." Sai was at the front of the group in the blink of an eye. He flashed another hand signal and everyone moved out, they looked like bullets shooting through the trees. Suigetsu let out an exasperated sigh.

"Well this sucks, man I hate land travel!" He groaned and took off after the Anbu. It was going to be a long couple of days.


	21. Five Kage Summit

Sai, and the rest of the team looked down at the Three Wolves Mountains from atop ink birds. They were high enough that the guarding Samurai would not be able to easily tell them apart from real birds. The downside to being at this height was the air was very thin making it difficult to maintain the position for very long before people started dropping from oxygen deprivation. They had traveled hard, on foot by day and ink bird by night. They had made the trip in two days, where it normally took four or five. Unfortunately, Tsunade had been traveling at a brisk pace as well and had already arrived. One of the sensory Anbu had confirmed that all five Kage were present, and appeared to be stationary in a semi-circle. Sai brought the birds down out of sight and once everyone was off they turned back into ink.

"Everyone wait here. I'm going in alone. I'll try to be as swift as possible." The ten Anbu nodded acknowledging Sai's instructions. "And please water Suigetsu." Suigetsu was slung over one of the Anbu's shoulders in a dazed state. They had quickly discovered that if he didn't have a steady water intake he quickly became sluggish and grumpy, and if you pushed it past that he started to become slightly delusional. Well, due to his high consumption level they had run out of water after the first day. The Anbu had been rotating carrying him for the last half a day.

Sai hopped onto his ink bird and took off into the sky. He took short even breaths as he climbed to where oxygen was scarce. When he got over top of the mountains he dove off the bird, shooting like a bullet towards the earth. He shrunk his ink bird small enough to fit in his hand. Just before reaching the ground he cast it out, grabbing on as it grew to full size. It flew swiftly just barely above the ground. He circled a few times to lose some of the momentum he had built up from his dive. Once he had slowed enough he let the bird turn to ink and dropped down onto the mountains. He quickly made his way over to the entrance. He looked down on it from a ledge on the mountain side. There were four guards. Sai pulled out his scroll and wrote a short message, when it came to life off the page it looked like a harmless moth. He watched as it flitted right past the guards and disappeared inside the mountain.

Meanwhile inside the mountain the five Kage were having a heated discussion about what to do next. It was clear that action was required but they were struggling to come to an agreement on anything. Tsunade was sitting with her arms crossed trying to contain her growing temper. She was about to join in the debate when a small black moth landed on her hand. At first she went to smack it but just before she did she noticed that something about it seemed different. It took her a few seconds to realize it was ink. She quickly but discretely opened a scroll allowing the moth to land on the paper. Upon contact a message appeared.

 _My apologies for the intrusion, it's urgent._

A few moments after she finished reading the note Sai materialized behind her. He was down on one knee. He looked up at all of the Kage, all of which had initially reacted in shock but now wore a different emotion on their face. The Tsuchikage was confused, the Mizukage amused, Gaara concerned, and the Raikage of course, was angry. Sai wore his trademark smile.

"My apologies for the intrusion there is a matter of the utmost importance that requires your attention."

"What is the meaning of this?!" The Raikage boomed. "We were each allowed to bring one companion!"

"Oh, shut up!" Tsunade shot the Raikage a glare that could kill. "Sai is well versed in how all this political BS works, he wouldn't have interrupted if it wasn't extremely important. So, listen up!" Before Sai could speak Mifune, General of the Land of Iron spoke.

"While we will certainly hear what this young shinobi has to say, I request that you include how you were able to get past my men?" Sai looked at him.

"What matters is that I did, I find how to be a rather trivial question, but to be entirely honest, superior skill is how I got past them." Tsunade had to keep herself from laughing at the clearly offended Mifune and Sai's complete obliviousness to the fact. "I bring news of Madara and Sasuke." Everyone perked up. "We have been presented with an opportunity to take Madara down, but you will all have to put your trust in myself and Sasuke."

"Just get on with it boy!" The Tsuchikage interjected. Sai simply gave him a nod.

"Just before Sasuke was kidnapped I was able to sneak him some ink messenger birds. I recently received one. He said Madara is forcing him to show him the way to Naruto and Killer B, luckily Sasuke doesn't know their exact location but he does know the general area. He said he would try to buy us as much time as he can for us to formulate a plan. Since he was taken about two weeks ago, we probably have three weeks at best to put something together. I recommend that we head to Naruto and Killer B's location and set a trap for Madara. For once we have the upper hand. I urge you not to delay your decision."

"Thank you Sai." Tsunade gestured for him to stand. "I motion that we all head for Naruto and Killer B's location at once and we lay a trap for Madara there. He will not be able to stand against us if we are united."

"I second that, we should head there immediately." Tsunade nodded her thanks to Gaara for his support.

"I can't believe the two of you would come to a decision so quickly on the word of a child! Gaara throwing his support so frivolously I could understand, he is but a child himself but I don't trust Sasuke, or this Sai!" The Tsuchikage complained.

"That "child" is the active head of the Anbu Black Ops, I suggest you show some respect." Tsunade said through gritted teeth. "And Sasuke single handedly defeated Danzo and is a hero of the Leaf."

"I support this motion." The Mizukage chimed in. "I've never been one to pass up an opportunity. If I'm not mistaken this is the first time we've had the upper hand."

"Raikage?" Tsunade looked at him.

"I don't hear anyone offering up a better plan so, I support." They all stared at the Tsuchikage who was pouting in his chair.

"Very well, I guess you leave me no choice! I'll tag along just to make sure you youngsters don't mess everything up!"

"Then it's been decided. The verdict of this Five Kage Summit is that you shall band together and face Madara as one unified force. This Summit has come to an official close." Everyone nodded in agreement with Mifune's announcement. "Please know that you have the Land of Iron's full support in this endeavor."

"Thank you Mifune." Tsunade said as she stood up. "Let's go Shizune."

"Yes, my lady!" The rest of the group followed behind.

"I think we should all take slightly different routes. Although Madara is our priority he is not our only enemy." The other Kage nodded in agreement to Tsunade's suggestion.

"I will send a messenger bird on ahead to Yamato and his team. Additionally, please allow me to send some Anbu with each of the Kage."

"Sai, we don't have enough time to get more Anbu here..." Sai stopped Tsunade before she could finish her sentence.

"There are ten waiting beyond that tree line. As well as Suigetsu." Tsunade chuckled.

"Of course there are. You fill Danzo's shoes well Sai. In fact, in many ways you have surpassed him." Sai smiled and thanked Tsunade for the compliment.

"We will be ready to head out in fifteen minutes." Sai was about to go get his team when Tsunade spoke again.

"Sai, one last thing." He turned to face her. "Tell Yamato and his team that they are not to inform Naruto of what's going on. It is important that he focuses on his training and has no distractions. We will inform him of the situation when we arrive."

"Of course." With that he headed for his team.

"I get the feeling that even though we think we are the ones making plans and calling the shots we are really pawns."

"Really? What makes you say that my lady?" Shizune asked inquisitively.

"Oh, let's just call it intuition." Tsunade said as she watched Sai disappear behind the trees.

xxx

Suigetsu groaned when he saw Sai come out from the treeline. "Nooo, tell me it's not time to leave again? I barely survived the trip here." Sai smiled down at Suigetsu who was sitting in a pool of melted snow.

"Yes, but don't worry, our pace won't be nearly as rigorous as on our way here." Suigetsu let out a sigh of relief at Sai's words. "We are going to be splitting up. Two of you will go with the Raikage, two with the Kazekage, two with the Mizukage, and three with the Tsuchikage. The one remaining will stay with Suigetsu, and I, and the Hokage. Decide among yourselves who will go with who. I will give each team a messenger bird in case you need to contact me. Our routes will not be known to each other so we will meet back up when we reach our destination. Any questions?"

"You told the Five Kage what to do?" One of the Anbu asked clearly impressed.

"No, I simply told them the facts, gave them my recommendation, and they made their own decisions."

"I've just never heard of the Kage coming to a decision so quickly. You weren't even gone half an hour sir."

"I impressed on them the need for swift action. We don't have the luxury of taking our time with situations like these. All of the Kage understand that. Anything else?" No one spoke. "Good, let's move out then." Sai picked Suigetsu up from his puddle. In less than a minute the team of twelve appeared before the five Kage. Sai put Suigetsu down.

"We had better get a move on while there is still some light. Stay safe everyone, see you in a few days." When Tsunade finished speaking all of the Kage bowed slightly to one another as a sign of respect. The Anbu moved to the sides of their chosen Kage and everyone set off.

xxx

"Saaaiii, I don't think I've quite regained all of my strength back, will you carry me?" Suigetsu whined.

"No Suigetsu, I won't carry you. I realize that land travel really isn't your thing but if you are trying to appeal to emotions to get things you really picked the wrong person." Tsunade chuckled a little bit. Suigetsu let out an exasperated sigh. Tsunade slowed her pace a little bit to allow Sai to catch up to her, once they were side by side she started talking.

"Thank you for the warning message."

"Of course, I just wish we could have caught up with you on the road. I'm not the most eloquent when it comes to speaking so I am sure it would have been better if it could have come from you, but everything worked out and that's what matters."

"Indeed. Why didn't you tell me you had given Sasuke a messenger bird?" Sai let out a small laugh.

"I didn't find it important enough of a detail. It's not like I could contact him, and unless he had an opportunity to reach out him having them would be useless. So, I decided I would tell you if and when I received a message."

"You're keeping something from me, aren't you Sai?" Sai smiled.

"Well of course, I'm the head of the Anbu. For many things it is important that you have plausible deniability. However, very few things are of that nature so you have nothing to worry about."

"I don't mean in general Sai, I mean about this mission. There is already a plan in place and we are part of it." She said it more like a statement than a question.

"Lady Tsunade, do you trust Naruto?" She gave Sai a puzzled look.

"Of course, with my life. He is one of the people I trust most."

"So, if he told you he trusted someone, would you trust them too? Rather than question first like you would do with most people?" Tsunade thought back to when Naruto had asked her to give his informant a chance and it had turned out to be Sasuke. She had spun a whole story and welcomed him back to the village with open arms without a second thought and it had turned out to be the right choice.

"Yes."

"Then know that we are in the hands of someone Naruto trusts more than anyone else."

"Very well, I will put my trust in you as you requested and in Sasuke as well. All of you are the future of the village, I suppose I should be proud that you are taking care of things. I just wish that you didn't have to bare the weight of such things on your shoulders and remain children forever." Tsunade sighed.

"Thank you Tsunade, and I think I speak for most of us when I say our lives are far better now than they ever were when we were children." Tsunade smiled and Sai smiled back, a genuine one.

"If I'm lucky I'll be able to retire soon!" They both laughed.

"Please don't, the village isn't ready for Naruto to be Hokage yet."

"You're probably right Sai, but I look forward to the day it is." Sai nodded his agreement.


	22. Closing In

Nel here, I know I took a bit of a hiatus, but I am ready to get started again, I am hoping I will be able to dedicate some time out of my week regularly to work on this story, here is a small chapter to get it rolling again! ENJOY! :] Comments welcome!

xxx

Kakashi leaned silently against the wall beside the entrance to the special room where Naruto and Killer B were training. Despite the fact that the room sealed completely from the inside, to the point that the entrance wasn't even visible from the outside, Kakashi would stand there from the moment Naruto went in, to the moment he came out. If anyone asked he was "guarding" the room, but Yamato and Guy both knew that he was worried about Naruto. The training he was enduring was extremely dangerous, and Naruto was going through it at an accelerated pace, increasing the chances of something going wrong. Kakashi had always been his teacher, always been there if something went wrong, but this time, he couldn't be. All he could do was stand outside and wait. Kakashi turned his head to look at Yamato who had just rounded the corner. He was carrying a scroll.

"What's that?" Yamato extended the scroll to Kakashi.

"It's a message from Sai. Something you will be very interested to read." Kakashi raised his eyebrow and took the scroll.

 _By the time you receive this we will likely have been on the road for a few days. Much has happened since you have left the village. Madara appeared and killed Koharu and Homura, declaring war on the entire shinobi world. He has Sasuke and is making him lead him to your location. I was able to get a few messenger birds to Sasuke during the chaos and he reported that he is going to buy us as much time as possible. A Five Kage Summit was held and they have come to the agreement to band together along with the Land of Iron to take down Madara. We are en route to your position as we speak. The plan is to lay a trap. Tsunade gave specific instructions that Naruto is not to be informed. We will do that when we arrive as well as fill you in on the details._

 _See you soon._

 _\- Sai_

"Interesting...Naruto is not going to be happy when he finds out Madara has Sasuke..." Kakashi looked over to Yamato who was nodding in agreement.

"You've got that right. We need to start making what preparations we can, but discretely. There is a chance Madara will get here first."

"The letter said that Sasuke was going to try and buy as much time as possible. I guess not disclosing all of the details about Naruto's whereabouts ended up being more helpful than we initially thought. That fact that Sasuke really doesn't know may end up saving us, and him." Yamato again nodded in agreement.

"I am pretty sure that 98% of the population doesn't even know this place exists, nevertheless that this secret training ground is on it, and even less likely than that, that we are on it." Kakashi chuckled slightly.

"That's true, there are a lot of perks to having a giant turtle with an island on its back, we should get one." Yamato smirked.

"Let's go tell Guy."

xxx

"Are you sure you know where you're going?"

Talk about deja vu, this guy was worse than a toddler. Sasuke was certain that this journey would be the death of him.

"For the hundredth time, yes. I specifically remember Tsunade saying that the only way to get to where Naruto and the eight tails are training is by boat."

"This is taking too long."

"Did you think they were going to make it easy?!" Sasuke was on the verge of completely losing it. He wondered if this is what Naruto felt like when the nine tails started to take over. He scowled. "They sent Naruto to the last place you would expect him to be, and then put him in the hardest place to find. If you didn't need me to find it you would be there already, so would you please STOP asking me that!" Sasuke couldn't see Madara's face under his mask but he was positive Madara was smirking right now. "I thought you sent that weird plant companion of yours to gather intel, I don't hear you complaining about how long he is taking." Madara crossed his arms and got in the boat. _That's right, you sit down._ Sasuke thought to himself. He couldn't help thinking about how surprised Madara was going to be when they finally got there. If everything went right when they arrived he would be facing the wrath of the Kage of the five hidden villages united, two tailed beasts, and a Uchiha. Not even Madara would be able to stand against that. He sighed inwardly. Ultimately, that wouldn't be the thing that defeated Madara, it would be speed, and superior skill, coupled with massive strength. That's why it had to be him and Naruto facing him together. Despite the massive strength and skill of the Kage they didn't have the eyes. It would take a Uchiha, and an Uzumaki. Together, they were an unstoppable force. He chuckled at the thought.

"What are you laughing at?" Sasuke inwardly scolded himself for chuckling out loud.

"Just that fact that with all your power you still need help."

Madara scoffed. "I don't need help."

 _Of course you don't._ Sasuke thought. If only he knew.

xxx

Sai had been ferociously sending messengers of all shapes and sizes for Lady Tsunade, to all the Hidden Villages, the Land of Iron, and their troops back home. At this rate he was going to need to get more ink at the first town they reached. They had been traveling for three days and were just getting to the edge of the Land of Iron.

"Hallelujah! Finally, out of that freezing hell hole!" Tsunaded ran and flopped on a patch of grass. Sia smiled.

"Isn't that a bit of a contradiction my Lady?" Sia asked.

"What?"

"Frozen hell hole. I was under the impression that Hell was hot." Tsunade scowled.

"Well it froze over." Shizune covered her mouth to try and hide her chuckle.

"It'll be about another day's journey until we reach the first town, we will need to stock up on supplies, it'll take about a week from there to reach Naruto's location. As long as they don't run into any issues the others should be following a similar time table." Sai's signature smile never left his face.

Tsunade got up off the ground. She put one hand on her hip and the other on her chin. "Hm, is there any way we can speed that up?"

"Doubtful, as Suigetsu in one of our traveling companions."

"Hey!" Suigetsu came trudging out of the woods. "I heard that!"

"Why did you even bring him Sai?" Tsunade asked.

"He is surprisingly useful and effective in battle."

"I'm right here you know!" Suigetsu yelled. "When we get to water travel you are going be glad I'm here!"

"I'm sure we will!" Shizune chimed in trying to soothe the situation.

"Stop being so nice Shizune!" Tsunade yelled. "Let's get moving."

Suigetsu groaned. "Saaaaiiiiiii."

"I'm not carrying you."

"You guys do know I'm part shark, right?...guys!" Suigetsu's pleas fell on deaf ears as everyone began walking again. He swore under his breath. If he made it out of this alive he was never going to travel by land again. If they wanted him to come along they could bring a pool.


	23. Go With Your Gut

Nel here, this chapter is a little bit less action packed but still full of important details. It feels so good to be writing again. Hope you all enjoy!

xxx

The first thing everyone did upon reaching town was check into the inn and take a long bath. Despite the fact that everyone felt gross, it was clear that Suigetsu was the happiest of anyone to get into a pool of water. When the group had arrived at the inn he hadn't even waited to find out where the rooms were, he had run straight for the bath house. The group could hear his cannon ball all the way back in the entry way. They had all taken some time to relax and replenish, but now they all sat around the table in Tsunade's room discussing.

"I still can't shake the feeling that something isn't right. I'm glad that for once we have the upper hand, and going to Naruto's location to set a trap for Madara is definitely the right decision, but I can't get rid of that gut feeling. For one, if this is Madara Uchiha, the same man that fought Hashirama Senju in the Valley of the End, how is he here. He would be so old, I can't imagine him still using the powers of his youth like he appears to be. I don't doubt Sasuke, but what if there is more to it." Tsunade put her hand to her chin in thought and Sai chimed in.

"I see where you are coming from my lady. It is possible that someone would just use his name to get us all worked up. Madara was a force to be feared. He was exceedingly powerful and it is hard to fathom a threat of that magnitude returning." Tsunade nodded.

"Even if it is not Madara, the person we face is equally as bad, if not worse. However, using that name could cause us to act emotionally, instead of rationally. We need to be careful. We need to make sure that we maintain our advantage. We must consider all possibilities."

"Did Madara have any disciples?" Everyone turned to look at Suigetsu. "I mean, think about it. People like this always have someone that they trust, that they take under their wing, brainwash, and convince to continue their work. Orochimaru had Kabuto, and if Sasuke wasn't such a complete asshole he probably would have been next. What makes Madara any different?" After a few moments of silence Shizune spoke.

"Suigetsu makes a good point. Why wouldn't Madara have passed on his legacy?"

"If that is the case..." Tsunade's brow furrowed and she frowned. "As I had feared we are dealing with someone who, while not necessarily stronger, is much more intellectual. Dangerously so. Someone with enough cunning to convince the world that a dead man lives and since no one has seen his face..."

"No one knows for sure, we are only going off what he has told us." Sai finished Tsunade's sentence. "We only know what he wants us to know." The group let out a collective sigh. Tsunade stood up, yawned and gave a big stretch.

"Let's all get a good night sleep, we will grab supplies first thing in the morning and set out. The hardest part of the journey is over, it should only take us another half day at a brisk pace to get to the agreed upon location. Once we are all together again we can form a plan to take this bastard down." The group all gave silent nods. They were tired. Besides the fact that everyone had been traveling nonstop for the past two weeks, the situation, even though they currently had the upper hand was intense. They were preparing to face Madara Uchiha himself, or someone even worse and they didn't have all the blanks filled in. That made the situation very dangerous, it meant that the chances of someone dying increased. This was family. Bickering and jokes aside they would die for each other. They all choose to be shinobi, they knew the potential costs and every person had been effected by the shinobi world. Sadly, most in a negative way. It was time for peace, it was time to put an end to the evil. They all knew that even if they could stop these people, more would come, but not for many lifetimes if they could help it. The Hidden Villages were more united than ever, once their common enemy had been brought down it would be the perfect time for peace. They were all part of the same world, unique and different, but the same. It was time to embrace that. It was time people started dying of old age again.

xxx

It was close to one in the morning and Sai still hadn't gone to sleep. He stood by the window in his room, moonlight pouring through, bathing his bare chest in a pale light. It almost made him look like a ghost. If ghosts were made of solid muscle that is. He thrived in the night, lived in the night. As an Anbu he was the night. Yet he loved the day, the vibrant colors the sky turned when the sun would rise and set. The contrast of the blue sky and white clouds against green trees and flowered fields. That's one of the reasons he got into art in the first place. It helped him to understand. He was never very good with emotions, but the way he felt when he painted helped him to connect. In order to paint something, you have to understand it in a fundamental way. Naruto and Sasuke had been one of the first paintings he had ever done of people, because for once something emotional had really connected with him. Even though he didn't grasp it in its entirety he had understood in an inexpressible way. He was starting to understand that that was what true emotion was, something that books can never truly explain, and words can't express completely, but it is felt and understood. Sai was pulled from his thoughts by a knock on his door. He didn't bother putting on more clothes, he just walked over to the door and opened it without even looking to see who it was.

Suigetsu stepped into the room gently closing the door behind him. Sai had gone back to window and was leaning against the sill.

"What's on your mind Suigetsu?" Sai wore his signature smile. Suigetsu crossed the room and sat down on Sai's bed roll. It was clear that he hadn't slept yet either. His face was serious.

"Why did you bring me along?"

"Because Sasuke trusts you."

"Then tell me what you are keeping from the group. You're orchestrating something." Sai smirked a little bit. More than just Suigetsu's teeth were sharp.

"The day that Madara showed up and killed the elders, Sasuke used a genjutsu to talk to me. He told me to do nothing. He went willingly. His plan has been to lead Madara to Naruto and Killer B from the beginning. So, I passed him some messenger birds. He requested that I convince the Kage to go to the location as well, so here we are." Suigetsu sighed.

"He never was a man of many words."

"Actions speak louder, don't you think?"Suigetsu shrugged. Sai made his way over from the window sill and sat down beside Suigetsu on the bed roll. "I realize it seems foolish to go running off on such a dangerous mission with so few details but I trust Sasuke and I also think he saved a lot of lives the day he left with Madara, or whoever our masked villain is. That whole situation seemed to only last for seconds, but he was able to communicate much to me through genjutsu. I don't doubt that he and Madara spoke in a similar fashion, perhaps for a very long time." Suigetsu nodded at Sai's words.

"I agree with you Sai and I trust Sasuke as well. I would have done the same thing in your shoes, but it doesn't change that fact that I don't like flying blind."

"None of us do, but we will make it work. We are all kind of going with our gut right now, there is never as much time for planning as we would like, especially once things start happening, it always seems to happen too fast. So, we trust each other and our instincts." Sai and Suigetsu both laid back onto the floor. Content with each other's company and a few moments of silence. They continued to talk for a while, sharing a little bit about their pasts and speculating at who the masked man could be if not Madara. They were bonding and it was nice, but before they knew it their eyelids had grown heavy and not to long after that they had both drifted off to sleep.

xxx

Sasuke and Madara had been traveling in the boat for about two days and had barely said anything to one another. When Kisame and Zetsu suddenly popped out of the water it about scared Sasuke to death.

"It's about time." Madara's words were filled with annoyance. "What were you able to find out?"

"After what happened at the Hidden Leaf village Tsunade called a Five Kage Summit. They were to meet in the Land of Iron. With the Raikage gone it was much easier to snoop around for information. I was able to find out that they are on an island that has a secret training ground. It is off the east coast of the Land of Lightning. From what I could gather only a very small team went so that they would be harder to detect."

"I see, and how is my army?"

"Awaiting your orders."

"Good...prepare them and meet me at this island. It will take much to bring down the eight and nine tails." Zetsu disappeared back into the water.

"Kisame..."

"Yes?"

"Push the boat." Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at that. It just went to show how little Madara really cared. He would make his teammate push the boat instead of letting the wind and the sails do the work.

"What did you say?" Kisame looked stunned.

"He said push the boat." Sasuke repeated for the shark man. It wasn't lost on him that Kisame carried one of the seven ninja swords. If Suigetsu was here he would fight him to the death for it right then and there. Reluctantly Kisame got into the water and began pushing the boat. Sasuke watched the man who sat across from him in silence. Madara was leaning nonchalantly against the side of the boat with his legs crossed as if he had not a care in the world. It made Sasuke's heart heavy that this was all that was left of his kin. It also lifted his heart thinking about how Naruto had managed to pull him back from the brink. That could have, would have been him if it hadn't been for Naruto. He would never be able to express his gratitude enough.

"Tell me something." Madara looked over at the sound of Sasuke's voice. "What's your real goal?"

"You know my plans."

"I know you tried to get me to join you and insinuated that we would rule the world together. That suggests that your plan is world domination, yet you care nothing for people. You would kill the entire world to achieve your goals, but without people there is nothing to rule, that makes me think that your plan is something completely different. Something that embraces your blatant disregard for all human life, or anything you don't deem worthy." It annoyed Sasuke that Madara constantly wore a mask, he didn't understand the point, there was no reason for him to hide his identity out in the middle of the ocean, and he knew that he didn't need it to hide his emotions every, Uchiha's had a stone cold poker face. The fact that another Uchiha was alive was surprising enough, but the chances of it being the supposedly long dead Madara Uchiha was pushing it. When Sasuke had joined the Akatsuki previously he hadn't bothered to ask questions, he didn't care. Now that he was trying to take them down and was examining everything more closely things weren't adding up and it was making him uneasy.

Madara let out a slow chuckle that resonating from deep within his throat. "Very observant. You want to know my plans? My true goal?" He paused for dramatic effect. "World peace." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him. "I mean really Sasuke, what better way is there to achieve world peace than by world domination?" Sasuke had to admit that his twisted logic did make some twisted sense to a certain degree, even if he didn't agree. "Most people don't agree with my idea of world peace though, that's why many will have to die for the greater good."

"Why bother?" Sasuke had on his best, I don't give a shit about anything face. "Why not just leave the world to its ways? It's done nothing for you, so why bother trying to create world peace for a world that doesn't want it? What's to keep people from fighting back and rebelling against your glorious plan?" Sarcasm dripped from Sasuke's last two words.

"That's why I want the tailed beasts of course." Madara said it as if it was obvious.

"So, you'll force everyone into submission?" Madara let out a laugh that was almost genuine. It creeped Sasuke out. "My dear Sasuke, I want the Ten Tails so that I can put the world into Infinite Tsukuyomi. Why would anyone want to rebel against a perfect world? Their families and loved ones returned to them, and nothing bad ever happening. Perhaps at first some would fight, but soon, even the strongest will would bend and lose the ability to distinguish reality from illusion. So, you see? World peace."

Sasuke had to keep himself from flying across the boat and attacking Madara. All he could think about was the arrogance that this man had thinking that he could create the perfect reality for the world, he couldn't possibly know what everyone truly wanted. If he had his way, him and Naruto wouldn't be together, their perfect reality would be stripped from them and he was sure they wouldn't be the only ones. He brought himself under control before he spoke.

"I'll give you points for creativity."

"You'll see soon enough Sasuke, and perhaps I may yet convince you to join me." Sasuke refrained from commenting on how that was never going to happen and played it safe instead.

"If you can make it worth my time. Maybe I'd rather live in an illusion."

"Wouldn't we all?" Madara and Sasuke went back to sitting in silence and Sasuke set his mind to finding a way to get a messenger bird to Sai.


	24. To The Island

Tsunade groaned with displeasure at the feel of someone gently shaking her back to the world of the living. Per her request Shizune had come to wake her promptly at 6 o'clock the next morning. She knew they needed to go get supplies and get on the road but god sleep was so good.

"Just five more minutes..." She pleaded groggily.

"I'm sorry my lady, but we really must be going."

Tsunade let out a depressed sigh and reluctantly opened her eyes. The sun was just beginning to rise and the first rays of the day assaulted her eyes.

"Shizune, would you please get my things together and an outfit for the day laid out? I'll go get Sai and wake Suigetsu."

"Yes, my lady."

Tsunade gave a big stretch and forced herself to get up. She figured the short walk to the boy's rooms would help her to wake up a little bit, not to mention that if she had to be up at this godforsaken time of day so did everyone else. Since they had discussed leaving first thing this morning she new that Sai would likely already be up, in fact she wouldn't be surprised if he had already gone into town, gotten supplies, and come back. Suigetsu on the other hand would likely still be sound asleep and much more fun to wake up so she went to Sai's room first. She grabbed the doorknob and knocked softly.

"Sai." She twisted the doorknob and finding it unlocked she went ahead and entered the room. What she found surprised her, but also brought a smile to her face. Sai and Suigetsu were both sound asleep, partially on the bedroll, partially on the floor. It was clear that they had been up late, probably talking, and had fallen asleep. It made her happy to see that Sai was bonding with people, making friends. He had grown so much since joining team seven and had really proven himself as head of the Anbu. The village would be in good hands with this next generation, but that full responsibility did not yet rest on their shoulders, so she decided to let them sleep a while longer. She quietly backed out of the room and closed the door behind her. Once she got back to her room and changed into the outfit Shizune had laid out for her she headed downstairs where Shizune was waiting.

"Let's go Shizune." Shizune gave Tsunade a slightly confused look.

"Shouldn't we wait for the others."

"No, no, I decided to let them get a little more sleep. I figured we would go get the supplies and then come back and get them."

"That was very nice of you my lady."

"You know Shizune, you're right, and I think I should treat myself for my kind heartedness with..." She paused in thought for a moment.

"...some sake!"

"My lady! It's way too early for that!"

xxx

Sai was woken up by the feeling of something landing on his face. His eyes popped open as he went from completely asleep to completely alert. He wasn't sure exactly when he had fallen asleep and he had no idea what time it was. He was somewhat disoriented which was unusual for him. He immediately recognized the messenger bird that sat on his nose as one of the ones he had given to Sasuke. He sat up and quickly grabbed a scroll for the bird to land on. His sudden movement had disturbed the man that had been sleeping next to him. Suigetsu sat up, still not fully awake he managed to get out a few garbled words.

"Sai...wha...is...thing okay?"

"I got a message from Sasuke." That snapped Suigetsu into the present. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and waved for Sai to come over to him.

"What does it say?"

"Not much, it seems like he didn't have a lot of time to get this sent off." Sai sat down next to Suigetsu on the floor so that he could look over his shoulder at the message.

Maybe not Madara. Has army. Heading to island. Needs tailed beasts for infinite tsukuyomi, very bad.

"It would appear that Sasuke is having similar thoughts about Madara possibly not being Madara."

""Has army" doesn't sound good." Suigetsu chimed in. "And what's…infinite tsukuyomi?"

"Very bad." Suigetsu slapped his forehead at Sai's response.

"I know that! But what is it?"

"I'm not sure, perhaps Tsunade will know more." It was just than that Sai noticed that the sun had already risen, it was definitely past six. "It would seem that we woke up late." Sai stood up and got his clothes from the closet pulling his shirt on over his head. Despite his slender figure he was all muscle and his fitted undershirt only served to show that off. It tightly hugged his broad shoulders and biceps, his abs clearly defined even through the fabric. He pulled his vest on over his shirt and zipped it up, finishing off his outfit with his headband that bore the villages insignia. "Let's go. We can grab your things on the way out." Suigetsu nodded.

xxx

Sasuke sat in the boat with his back to Madara pouting internally. He still could not believe what he had ended up having to do in order to get that messenger bird sent. He had discovered the first time he used one there was two ways in which the bird worked. One, you could speak directly to it and it would retain the words, the second way was to grab hold of the bird like a pen and write out the message. The hard part about using those two methods was that he needed privacy. Which was exceedingly hard to find on a small boat in the middle of the ocean. Sasuke closed his eyes and frowned as he recalled the situation.

Right after he had finished talking with "Madara" about world peace all he could think about was how he was going to get the information to Sai. The more they knew the better they could prepare. That fact that he needed the tailed beasts for his plan meant that he couldn't kill Naruto or Killer B, at least not right away. The fact that he seemed to have an army was also concerning. How big was it? How many were coming to assist with taking Naruto and Killer B? Along with a thousand other questions. Finally, after about an hour he had come up with an idea. He had groaned internally as soon as the idea had popped into his head because he hated it and he also knew it was the only way. As soon as the sun had set he had stood up in the boat.

"What are you doing?" Madara had asked.

"I'm gross. I need to wash off." Sasuke had responded as he had started to undress. Madara had sat there in silence watching as Sasuke stripped down to his birthday suit and dove into the water. The only thing that had gone through his brain when he plunged beneath the surface was "shit that's cold!" He hadn't even thought about the water temperature. He held his breath and swam for as long as he could. He didn't care what direction he went. When he surfaced he took a deep breath and looked around. He could barely see the boat in the darkness, but it was far enough away that he felt he wouldn't be heard. He took the messenger bird out of the corner of his mouth where he had hidden it. He was glad that Sai had made them so small and easy to conceal. He quickly but quietly spoke into the bird and then released it into the night. Another good thing was that the birds were as black as Madara's heart so there was no way it would be seen in the darkness. A few moments later the boat had pulled up next to him, coming to a stop so that he could get back in. Kisame who had been pushing nonstop seemed glad to have the break even if it was only for a moment. For his sake Sasuke took his time getting back in the boat.

"Are you done?" Madara asked looking down at him from the boat. Sasuke dunked his head under the water one more time before climbing back in the vessel in all his naked glory. His butt was even whiter than the rest of him, almost to the point of transparency. It shined such a bright white that it could make the moon jealous. Whiteness aside, it was solid muscle and looked damn good. Sasuke couldn't help but wish Naruto were here, it would certainly make the situation a lot more fun, and his clothes would definitely be off for a much better, more fun reason. Sasuke shook out his dripping hair and put his clothes back on.

"I think you should go, you stink." Sasuke figured he wouldn't be able to get Madara to go in the water, but he figured he might as well give it a shot and try to get a look under that mask. After a few moments of silence, as he expected Madara made no move to get in the water.

"What are you waiting for Kisame? Get moving."

Sasuke opened his eyes and tried to focus on something else. It made him uncomfortable to think about his creepy traveling companion looking him over. It reminded him of the way Orochimaru had looked him over in that possessive, lustful way. Granted he couldn't see his current companion's eyes, for all he knew they had been closed, but he had a feeling they hadn't been, and the fact that he couldn't read Madara's intentions was almost worse. At least with Orochimaru he had known from the start what that pervert had wanted. Ultimately, regardless of how uncomfortable it had been to strip down it was worth it in order to get new information to Sai.

The more time that past, the more he realized that the Leaf was his home and that he cared. When he had told Naruto that all he cared about was him, he had been being honest, but he was beginning to notice more and more that he didn't just care about the village because Naruto wanted him to, but because he now felt a positive connection to it. Growing up it had been a reminder of what had happened to his family, but he had moved on from that. Not only was Naruto his family now, but the people who had been in power at that time were gone as well, the village was being remade. Day by day it was becoming more and more of a village he could be proud of and would happily fight to defend. Put that together with the fact that there was a growing number of people he cared about within its walls it filled him with new found purpose and drive. He imagined that this was how Naruto had felt all along, and why he had kept telling him to come home. Sasuke was finally starting to realize what "home" really meant. He would do whatever was necessary to protect that new found home, and family. A slight smile ghosted across his lips as he thought about how much he had changed in such a short time, and all because of Naruto. God, he was lucky. He couldn't wait to get his hands on that man.

xxx

It hadn't taken long for Sai and Suigetsu to find Tsunade and Shizune. He had told them about the message and they had all set out immediately. The meeting point was in the next town over in a tucked away run down brothel. They managed to make it to the meeting location in half the time. When they arrived, Gaara and the Raikage had already made it and the Mizukage had shown up just a few minutes after them. They all sat around a table tucked back in a private room. They were discussing the most recent message received.

"I wish we had some idea of how strong the army was, that way we could properly assemble troops ourselves." The Raikage's voice had its usual angry undertone.

"I agree, but even if it was huge, Madara has spies, if all of us were to amass our troops and head to the location of the tailed beasts it would be like a giant flag saying here we are, we know you are coming." Gaara responded. The Raikage let out a growl, but didn't say anything because he knew he was right.

"I think we need to focus on learning more about this Infinite Tsukuyomi. Based on the lack of information in this room related to it, I suspect that the details pertaining to it is known almost exclusively to the Uchiha clan. We should set our troops at home to researching it right away. We need to know more about that." The Mizukage chimed in.

"I agree, we need to make that our top priority. I think it would also be wise to send out troops to try and gather intel related to this army. We have been looking for Akatsuki hide outs anyways, we can just add this to the things to be on the lookout for. It may also help narrow down locations. If he really has an army, there are only so many places you could house one and have no one know about it." Everyone nodded at Tsunade's words. "On our way here we also talked about the possibility that we are dealing with one of Madara's disciples and not actually Madara himself. Reading Susuke's message only further confirms our suspicions."

"At this point, who he is doesn't really matter, but knowing what he is capable of." Everyone turned to look at Gaara as he spoke. "He clearly possesses enough power that he was able to convince everyone that he was Madara Uchiha, he is definitely from the Uchiha Clan. So, the question is, are we dealing with someone of equal, less, or more power than that. I think we should prepare as if he has superior abilities."

"Gaara is right, we can't assume we know what we are facing." Tsunade was about to continue but someone else starting talking before she could.

"Starting without your elder, this generation really is unbelievable." The Tsuchikage grumpily took a seat at the table. Everyone bowed their heads in acknowledgement.

"Our apologies Tsuchikage, but time is of the essence. We received new information from Sasuke." Tsunade handed the scroll over to the Tsuchikage to read. Surprisingly enough, Tsunade was actually the most diplomatic of the group. The Raikage had too much of a temper, Gaara, while quite cooperative and supportive of team work lacked the emotional connectability. He was logical and calculating, which was important, but he often came across as cold and uncaring because of his directness. The Tsuchikage was just plain grumpy and stuck in his ways, while the Mizukage could be extremely emotional. Not to say that Tsunade didn't have a temper of her own, but she could reign it in and control it when the need arose. This was one of those times. "An important detail that will be of great advantage to us is it sounds like he needs the tailed beasts alive."

"Indeed. On the way over here I gave much thought to where we should stage our ambush and I think I have identified the best location." Everyone turned to the Raikage. "There is an island in the shape of a crescent that is fairly close to where the turtle carrying Naruto and Killer B primarily inhabits. It has soaring cliffs that are impossible to pass except by flying over and outside of that there is only one way in or out. If we have the turtle stop in the bay there, it will be the perfect place to trap whoever this person is."

"Aren't you forgetting that he can teleport through things?" The Mizukage asked.

"He might be able to, but I doubt his army can." The Mizukage conceded. When the Raikage felt confident that there would be no more interruptions he continued.

"Once he enters the crescent along with his army we can block them in. If we also attack from atop the surrounding mountains there will be no way that he can stand against us. They will be vulnerable out in the open with attacks coming from all sides. The island is about two days from here, three at most. It requires some water travel so..."

"YES!" Suigetsu fist bumped the air interrupting the Raikage. Before he could do anything else Sai had grabbed Suigetsu and clamped a hand over his mouth. The Kage looked over.

"Please excuse the outburst, he has a...condition." Sai's signature smile never leaving his face. "It won't happen again." Content with that answer the Five Kage turned back to their discussion.

"And how are we going to get the turtle there?" The Tsuchikage asked crankily.

"We control it with a jutsu, so all I have to do is have it directed where to go."

"It seems we have a plan then." Tsunade piped in. "There is still some daylight left, we should wrap this up and get on our way." Everyone nodded their agreement. "Sai, please get with each of the Kage so that they can send any messages they need to back to their villages. We will gather some more supplies and head out as soon as that is complete. Please draft maps for us as well" She turned to address the Kage again. "I think it wise if we again all travel along different routes. Unless there is anything else anyone wishes to discuss, I think we should get to work." After a few moments of silence Tsunade gestured to Sai to come over. "Why don't you start with the Raikage. I'm fill going to fill in the Tsuchikage on what we discussed before his arrival." Sai nodded and everyone got to work.

It took a little over an hour to get all of the messages off and supplies gathered, but once it was done they all started out for the destination marked on their maps. In just a few days they would arrive and be able finally face the enemy. It was time to finish this.


	25. United We Will Stand

All the Hidden Villages were bustling, working to fulfill their new orders. The five Kage had all informed their second in command to put the troops on high alert in case they were needed at a moments notice. Scout troops had been ordered to continue looking for Akatsuki hideouts, and locations that could support a hidden army. Everyone else had been tasked with trying to find out more about the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Anywhere you went there was tension in the air, everyone was anxious to hear the results of this mission. Every village was on edge, if anything went wrong they could lose their leaders and other than the Raikage's troops, no one was close enough to provide reinforcements right away. Not to mention the implications of an enemy that could defeat all five Kage. Everyone had faith in their leaders but were preparing for the worst because they had too.

xxx

As soon as Yamato had gotten the new message he had gone to tell Kakashi. He found him in his usual spot.

"Another message just arrived." Kakashi looked up a Yamato not bothering to take the scroll form his outstretched hand. He was clearly tired. This last time that Naruto and Killer B had gone into the training room had been different. They hadn't come out in nearly two days, and Kakashi hadn't slept a wink.

"Just tell me what it says." He replied tiredly.

"They are expecting to arrive in about two days time. Apparently, the turtle we are on is controlled by some sort of justsu and will be taking us to the location where they plan on ambushing Madara. Which brings me to the next part. They are thinking that Madara may not be Madara himself, but rather a follower of his. Any idea who it could be?" Kakashi thought about it for a few moments then shook his head. "They are expecting that whoever this masked person is, is going to try and take Naruto and B alive." Kakashi's one visible eye widened.

"For what purpose?"

"Something called the Infinite Tsukuyomi."

"Well that doesn't sound good." Kakashi let out a sigh. "I'm tired of all the fighting Yamato, why must people always want to do evil?" Yamato was surprised by the sudden show of emotions by Kakashi, it was very unusual. It was clear that the whole situation was getting to him. Without thinking about it Yamato reached out and pulled Kakashi into an embrace that he accepted willingly. Tears starting to fall from his eyes. "Naruto hasn't even hit twenty yet. We've only just gotten Sasuke back to us, and now, the weight of the village in on their shoulders. It's just wrong. I'm not strong enough to protect them." Yamato knew that Kakashi cared for his students, but he had never realized just how much. He loved them as if they were his own, and honestly, he was the closest thing they had to a parent. After a few moments the two men separated. They both sat down on the floor with their backs against the wall. "You're a good friend Yamato. Can I ask a favor of you?" Yamato looked over at Kakashi.

"You want me to keep this between us?" Kakashi let out a small chuckle.

"Well that too, but actually, it's something else." Yamato raised an eyebrow.

"I've been seeing someone for a while now, and I'm going to ask her to marry me." Kakashi's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "Don't let me chicken out, okay?" Yamato couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Kakashi Hatake, the copy ninja, afraid of proposing!" Yamato was barely able to get his sentence out past his laughter. Kakashi pouted.

"Will you hold me to it or not?!"

Yamato stopped laughing and softened his tone. "Of course I will. So, who's the lucky lady? I had no idea you were seeing someone." Kakashi's blush deepened at the question.

"When we first admitted our feelings to each other we decided that based on our positions, being discrete about our status would be best, but with everything that has happened and the threat looming over us, I don't want to wait any longer to be with her fully. I love her, and life is short. I don't have to tell you how dangerous our line of work is, if I die, I want to go out knowing that I spent every moment I could with her."

"You didn't answer my question." Yamato prodded, giving Kakashi a playful smile. Kakashi remained quiet for a few moments before finally answering.

"Shizune." A smile crossed Kakashi's lips as he said her name.

"Hm, you two certainly have done a good job of hiding it, but I can see how you would be a good fit for each other. Don't worry, I won't let you get cold feet."

Just as the two were finishing their conversation the sealed door to the training room opened. An exhausted Naruto and Killer B came stumbling out. Yamato and Kakashi quickly stood up.

"Damn, I don't think I'll be able to move for the next week." Naruto complained.

"Cheer up friend, we're at the end, just one more bend, you'll be on the mend and ready to defend! Yow!" Everyone let out a collective sigh in response to B's rap.

As Naruto went to take a step forward his legs gave out, Kakashi caught him before he could fall and supported him as he walked.

"You were in there for quite a while Naruto, are you okay?" Kakashi's voice was laced with concern.

"Yeah, I'm okay, thanks Kakashi sensei. Ya know, I think I finally have it, I was able to maintain nine tails chakra mode the entire time we were in there training. The only reason we stopped is because we were both completely out of chakra."

"I see, that's good Naruto. I'm proud of you."

Yamato watched as the two made their way to the camp. After his and Kakashi's conversation he couldn't help but smile. Team seven was such an unlikely pairing of people, but they had become a family and a force to be reckoned with. Damned be the person who harmed even a hair on any one of their heads.

xxx

Naruto had been asleep for a full day after his lengthy training session with B. The turtle island that they were on had pulled into the cove of a crescent shaped island early that morning. Kakashi, Guy, and Yamato all stood looking out at the way that had just come.

"Looks like the way we came in is the only way in or out." Kakashi said plainly. Yamato nodded his head.

"Good place for an ambush." Yamato responded.

"How exciting! The hour draws near that we will finally be able to face off against this terrible fiend and bringer of injustice!" Guy made a fist as he energetically delivered his statement.

"The Kage should be arriving sometime today." Kakashi added. No one bothered to say it, but they all knew that the enemy would not be far behind. Soon, very soon, the battle for the world as they knew it would begin. They would be ready. The three stood silently watching the entrance to the cove hoping that they would see their companions before their enemy. Naruto came walking up behind them.

"Hey guys..." He looked around. "Where are we? I don't remember all this other land being here." They had never bothered to tell Naruto that the "island" that they were on was actually a turtle and he had never seemed to notice that they were moving so that had just let it go.

"We are on more than just an island Naruto." Kakashi didn't bother to turn around as he spoke. "It's a turtle. It has been almost constantly in motion making our position extremely hard, if not impossible to track."

"What!? We're on a giant turtle!?" Naruto looked around in total shock. The three chuckled at him. "Why have we stopped then?"

"Probably just needed a rest." Yamato suggested.

"You're probably right!" Naruto laughed lightheartedly. "I would too if I had been swimming around all this time! How long have I been asleep?"

"A little over a day." Naruto looked at Kakashi, understanding dawning on him.

"No wonder I'm so hungry! I'm going to grab some grub and wash up. Catch you guys later." Naruto grabbed some rice balls from camp as he headed for the spring they had been using to bathe. Once he was settled in the cool water he began eating one of the rice balls. He was sure that they would be able to head back to the village soon, he had mastered the Nine Tails Chakra Mode, now he was just fine tuning it. His heart fluttered at the thought of being back with Sasuke. When he finished washing up he would talk with the team about when they could start heading home. It was hard to believe how far he had come in such a short period of time. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. It felt like a lifetime ago that he had first overcome the Nine Tails in their internal battle. He smiled slightly as he relived the memory.

When Naruto had first appeared outside of the Nine Tails cage the fox had given him a dirty look. When he caught onto the fact that Naruto was releasing the seal he had given him an evil toothy grin, full of malicious intent. As soon as the seal had been broken their chakra's had collided full force. It was a fierce battle of wills, each trying to draw the chakra of the other into themselves. A tug a war of sorts. It had been close, Naruto had almost given in, almost been taken over by the hate filled aura of the beast but that's when his parents had appeared. When the nine tails chakra had been sealed inside of him, some of his parents chakra had been as well. Just for this moment. His mom had been his saving grace, bringing him back from the brink of hatred and despair. She had restrained the Nine Tails long enough for him to regroup and plan the attack that had been the finishing strike. Once he had absorbed the chakra, his form had morphed and he had taken on Nine Tails Chakra Mode.

His body had been surrounded by glowing yellow/orange chakra that blazed like flames, two fox like ears stuck up from his head. Three dark lines, like war paint streaked across both of his cheeks. The fox had been so infuriated that he had called upon the remaining chakra that Naruto had not been able to absorb in an effort to pulverize him, but Naruto had just sealed him back into his cage. The whole ordeal had not put them on the best of terms, not that they had been to begin with, but Naruto taking his chakra definitely hadn't helped. Ever since then he had been training with B to be able to control that power. At first, he had only been able maintain that form for a few minutes at a time, but now he could remain in that state for almost two days strait. He was ready. He stayed in the spring for a quite some time, letting the soreness and tension ease out of his muscles. Everything as sore, places he didn't know could be sore were sore, but he was quickly recovering. Another benefit of being a jinchuriki. After he felt sufficiently relaxed he had dried off and gotten dressed. When he got back to camp he was surprised to find that no one was there. He had been gone for a couple of hours, he couldn't imagine that they were all still standing watch. He made his way back to where he had found them before. As he came out from the tree line Kakashi called to him.

"Ah, Naruto, right on time. I trust you were able to relax for a bit?"

"Uh, yeah, what am I on time for exactly?" Kakashi waved him over. When he reached Kakashi's side and looked out at the water he gasped. A boat was just about to make ground on their little island. What surprised him even more was who was in it.

"Granny! Sai!" Naruto ran down to meet them as they reached the shore. "Hi Shizune!" They all smiled in return. Naruto let out a startled yelp when Suigetsu suddenly popped up out of the water in front of him making everyone chuckle. "What the hell Suigetsu!" As Tsunade stepped out of the boat she gave Naruto a solid punch on the top of the head, knocking him on his butt.

"How many times have I told you not to call me granny!" Naruto nursed his head as everyone couldn't help but laugh. Not a thing had changed.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"You'll find out soon enough Naruto. For now, we need to wait for the others." Naruto gave Tsunade a puzzled look.

"Others?" As if on que two more boats came into view. One carrying the Raikage and the other Gaara. During the commotion Yamato had moved over to Kakashi. He elbowed him, bringing a light flush to Kakashi's cheeks.

"Naruto." Sai extended a hand to help him up.

"Hey Sai." Naruto gladly accepted the hand up flashing Sai a smile. It quickly vanished when another two boats appeared carrying the Mizukage and Tsuchikage. "Why are the five Kage here?" Sai patted Naruto on the shoulder in an effort to ease the worry that now showed on his face. Before long they were all seated around the camp, Naruto had been uncharacteristically quiet. He looked at the five Kage, a serious expression on his face, his tone matching it when he spoke.

"What's going on?" He didn't bother to beat around the bush, the five Kage wouldn't be here if something wasn't wrong, and what worried him even more was that Sasuke wasn't with them. There was no way he would have stayed back at the village if something serious enough to bring the five Kage to the island had happened.

"It is time that we filled you in on everything that has been going on. We decided to hold off until we could tell you in person for the sake of your training." Naruto watched Tsunade intently as she spoke. He already didn't like where this was going.

"Madara Uchiha, is coming here. He intends to take you and Killer B in order to create something called the Infinite Tsukuyomi. We know this because he kidnapped Sasuke and is forcing him to show him the way here. We decided that this was our best opportunity to have the upper hand and strike first, so we are going to set up an ambush." Tsunade paused briefly allowing Naruto to take in what she just said. "We think that it may not be Madara at all, but a disciple, someone bent on carrying out his wishes. We don't know as much as we would like, but Sasuke has been sending us intel whenever he can. They are likely not far behind us. We will need to begin preparations right away."

"Did everyone know about this but me?" Naruto was clearly displeased at having been kept in the dark, but he maintained his composure.

"It was on my orders." Tsunade stated plainly. "There was nothing you could have done so we felt it better not to worry you." Naruto sighed, but dropped the issue.

"What's the plan then?" Tsunade couldn't help but be impressed with how Naruto was handling the situation, it was like he had grown up since the last time she saw him. Normally he was so impulsive, yet he was taking everything calmly and in stride. She couldn't help but feel a sense of pride while at the same time being totally freaked out.

"Each of us, along with the Anbu will hide behind the mountain range, you and B will of course be the bait. Once they have entered the crescent we will block the only exit and it will be him against all of us. We will also be utilizing Sai's ability to do aerial attacks, along with Suigetsu who excels in the water. He will literally be surrounded from all sides. There will be no chance of escape. Our biggest advantage is that he doesn't know we're here."

"Well, we had better get to work then." Naruto stood up as he spoke. "There's no time to waste." Everyone nodded their agreement. Sai stood up as well, rolling out a scroll. Five large ink birds came to life off of the scroll, he had gone ahead and prepare them on the way.

"When you are ready these will take you to your locations along the cliffs." Everyone gave Sai an appreciative nod. The five Kage began talking back and forth amongst themselves, finalizing details, and strategies. Sai pulled Naruto off to the side.

"Naruto, there is something I wish to talk with you about."

"What's up Sai?"

"I just want you to know, this is all part of Sasuke's plan. He didn't get kidnapped by our masked friend. He went willingly. He did it so that he could provide intel, and give us an edge. Not to mention he likely saved lives by making the choice he did. I just wanted you to know the truth. He is alive and well. I know that ultimately, he is your priority." Sai gave Naruto a knowing smile.

"Thank you Sai. I appreciate you filling me in, and for being discrete about us. You're a good friend." Naruto hadn't missed Sai's comment about Sasuke being his priority. It was true. A lot had changed in the last two almost two and a half months since he had left the village for this training. He had a new perspective and matured in many ways. One thing that hadn't changed was his love for Sasuke. The two had been sitting quietly for a few moments when Suigetsu walked up sitting down on the other side of Naruto.

"Hey Suigetsu." Naruto patted him on the shoulder.

"So, did Sai fill you in?" Naruto nodded. "You ready to take this bastard down?" Naruto got a determined look on his face.

"Hell yeah I am! What do you think I've been training for? Bring it on!" Naruto's two companions smiled at his enthusiasm. Some things really never would change.

xxx

When Zetsu had appeared back at the boat, Sasuke knew that they were close. His suspicions were only confirmed when Zetsu spoke.

"I've found them."

"Very good." The pleasure evident in Madara's voice. "How far?"

"About one more day to the north. Apparently, they have been on an island upon the back of a turtle. That's why they have been so hard to track. The turtle has been swimming without stop for the last few weeks and has stopped at an island to rest."

"What's the status of the army?"

"Underneath us as we speak." Sasuke sighed internally at Zetsu's response. He was beginning to understand more clearly that this army was not made of normal people. It seemed that, like Zetsu, who had the ability to merge with the ground, this army could too. Annoying.

"Good, good. Kisame! Pick up the pace!" The boat lurched as their shark like companion, or slave would probably be a better description, started to push the boat a little bit faster. Sasuke was certain the poor guy was probably exhausted. He had been pushing the boat nonstop for the last three or four days. The biggest break he had gotten was when Sasuke had stripped to send the messenger bird. He hoped it would make him easier to take down in the battle, or perhaps he could be convinced to change sides. God, he hoped his teammates were ready. That Naruto was ready. If this plan didn't work it could end in disaster, but he trusted Sai, and his teammates, it had come together. They would all be there waiting to ambush this crazy lunatic. One more day. One more day and they could end this. All Sasuke wanted was to be home with Naruto again, to get settled into a life together. He wanted peace and that started here.


	26. Fog

Hi Everyone! Forgive me for the time between updates. I finally finished my Master program, so I've had more time to get back into writing. Also, Hurricane Irma has provided me with a bit of free time as well! I promise, I will not leave the story incomplete no matter what! Hope you enjoy this chapter, reviews are always appreciated! - Nel =]

XXX

It was late, or rather, early when the last of the teams had taken off for there positions. The five Kage, and Anbu were evenly spaced out along the cliffs of the island, patiently awaiting the arrival of the enemy. An eerie mist had rolled in around 4am and settled over the area, limiting visibility. Everyone was tense, watching, waiting. The calm before the storm was nearly unbearable. Kakashi, Guy, and Yamato were standing watch on different sides of the turtle, Naruto and B, were located dead center of the island inside the temple. Naruto was pacing back and forth within the temple annoyed by the fact that he didn't get to be out there with the others. He understood why, but that didn't piss him off any less. It was going to take him and Sasuke attacking this opponent together to succeed, there would be no other way. Naruto let out a frustrated sigh and sat down in the middle of the room. This pacing was getting him no where. He started to meditate, taking the remaining time before all hell broke loose to gather nature chakra.

XXX

Kakashi's brow wrinkled as he stared into the thick fog that had settled over the area. He wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if it turned out to be a jutsu of the enemy. Kakashi squinted in the fog as if it would help him to see better, which, big surprise, didn't help at all. He sighed, at least Yamato hadn't let him go back on his word. As soon as the boat carrying Shizune had reached the shore Yamato had elbowed him and waggled his eyebrows in a creepy, yet encouraging way. Once everyone had arrived and the meeting between the Kage had started he had pulled Shizune aside to somewhere more private. Once they were away from prying eyes Shizune had thrown her arms around him.

"Kakashi! I'm so glad you're okay." He returned the hug with equal passion.

"There is something I want to talk to you about." Shizune put just enough distance between them so she could look him in the eye.

"Okay, but first, let me see that handsome face of yours." She smiled as she tugged his mask away from his face. A gentle smile formed on his lips as the mask fell away.

"Ah, now that's better. So tell me, what's on your mind?" Kakashi tried to calm his nerves enough to speak but the harder he tried the worse he got. Shizune gave him a puzzled look. She could tell there was something he wanted to get off his chest but he was failing miserably. "Calm down Kakashi, it's just me. Tell me what's wrong."

"Nothings wrong. It's just..I...well..." He stuttered out words but couldn't seem to form a coherent sentence.

"I've never seen you like this, are you sure nothing is wrong?" Shizune was starting to get concerned, she had never seen Kakashi so frazzled. She was about to start checking him medically when he blurted something out that caused her to completely freeze. She stared at him for a few moments before responding with the only thing she could think of. "What?"

"Marry me." Kakashi gently cupped her face is his hands and continued. "I love you Shizune, I know this is sudden, and the timing couldn't be worse, but would you give me the honor of being my wife?" Shizune's eyes continued to grow in size as his question sunk in and she realized he was serious.

"Are you...are you sure?" Shizune mentally slapped herself for not coming up with anything better than "Are you sure?".

"Yes, I've never been more sure...so what do you say? I know I don't have a ring, but no one knows how this battle will turn out, and I had to ask you, and make sure you know how much I love you." Shizune stared into his eye for a long moment before tears started to form in her eyes.

"Oh Kakashi, yes, of course yes!" Shizune wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her into a kiss. They separated for moment and Kakashi let a sigh of relief. He sunk to the ground pulling Shizune down with him. Startled, she called out his named as she was pulled to the ground, but it quickly turned to laughter.

"Phew, I'm so glad you said yes." Kakashi said from his sprawled out position on the ground. Shizune laying on top of him.

"A huge battle on the horizon and this is what you were nervous about?" Shizune asked between giggles. Kakashi nodded.

"Compared to fighting, that was way more nerve racking." Shizune gave him a soft smile.

"I guess I had better start planning."

Kakashi smirked under his mask as he thought back to the few tender moments they had been able to share before having to head back to the rest of the group. The plan was to make everything official once they got back to the village. Kakashi forced the gushy, fuzzy, happy feelings he was having to the back of his mind and focused back on the mission that was before him. It would all be over soon.

XXX

Suigetsu rested comfortably on the bottom of the ocean floor at the entrance to island. He had been positioned there to provide an advance warning of the enemies arrival. Sai was patrolling the air so that all possible directions of approach were covered. It became even more important when that wretched fog had rolled in about half an hour ago. The only way the enemy could come would be by water or air. The shinobi on the ground would have no way of knowing the enemy was there until they were right upon them due to the low visibility. His and Sai's ability to see them coming first could be the difference of life and death for their comrades. Suigetsu tried to quiet his nerves and slow his heart rate down so that he could focus on surveillance. Due to the experiments that Orochimaru had conducted on him, he had an extremely keen sense of smell as well as the ability to use echolocation. Underwater, he was the king. Suigetsu stilled himself and listened closely, everything was silent. He sighed internally. _Maybe they are coming by air, it's completely quiet down here._ Just as he was finishing his thought he realized that was the problem. The ocean was totally silent. He didn't smell any other sea life in the area or find anything using his echolocation. Something wasn't right. Suigetsu focused his senses even more on listening for any kind of sound. A few moments past before he picked up on some vibrations coming from the sea floor, he hadn't noticed that before. As he honed in on the vibrations more and more, he began to realize that it extended over a huge area, almost like a tiny earth quake across the seafloor. Suigetsu took off toward Kakashi.

Kakashi didn't flinch when Suigetsu popped out of the water in front of him.

"Kakashi, somethings not right." Suigetsu shook the water out of his hair as he climbed onto the bank. "The ocean is completely quiet, unnaturally quiet. I'm not sensing any sea life in the area. It's as if they've fled." Kakashi gave Suigetsu a nod.

"Alert the others. The enemy is close."

"One more thing, whoever this guy is, brought someone, or something big along with him. Nothing else would make the sea creatures flee. Something is coming from underground. I will keep listening for any sign of something that could have caused such a disturbance." With a final nod, Suigetsu disappeared into the water.

XXX

"There's the island." Zetsu announced.

"You act as if we can see anything within this damn fog Kisame created." Sasuke complained.

"Would you rather we were spotted?" Zetsu hissed.

"Enough." Madara raised a hand. "We need to be ready. Sasuke and I should be able to handle the two jinchuriki's, but it will be up to you two and the army to keep other enemies off of us. Understand?" Zetsu and Kisame nodded. "If we're lucky we will be able to use the fog cover to slip in and out unnoticed and not even have to lift a finger." Sasuke smirked internally as he thought about the surprise waiting for the bastard at the island. Luck most certainly was not on his side today.

"You know as well as I that you are not going to get in and out of here without being detected." Sasuke stated in his usual uninterested tone.

"That's why I always have a back up plan Sasuke. And a back up plan for that, so on and so forth."

"Tch. Whatever."

"As communicative as always Sasuke." Madara said sarcastically. Sasuke replied by rolling his eyes.

"Your first plan has one major flaw, Madara, if that's even your real name." Sasuke gave Madara one of his best glares. "Actually, I would say your first few plans likely have this same major flaw."

"And what would that be?"

"My help." Sasuke's reply silenced Madara and the air around them grew tense. "If you recall, I never agreed to join you. I've held up my end of the bargain by leading you to the two tailed beasts. I have no interest in further involvement with your plots." Madara's next words came out as a low growl.

"You will be making me your enemy Sasuke, I won't hesitate to kill you." Sasuke laughed at Madara's threat and stood up in the boat.

"Will you now? And alert the elite team of shinobi and two jinchuriki's of you presence? And face me and the tailed beasts at the same time? Even you aren't so foolish." Madara disappeared and reappeared behind Sasuke with a kunai at his throat. "Tch. How predictable." Madara turned to see Sasuke standing beside him, he had been tricked by a genjutsu. He shook with rage.

"You will regret this day Sasuke Uchiha, once my plans are complete, I will come for you." Sasuke simply smirked as he stepped out onto the water and disappeared into the fog. Madara moved to stand at the front of the boat. His rage boiling over, he was ready to kill, he wanted nothing more in this moment than to bring pain, and suffering, and death to all those who stood in opposition of him. He would crush them. He would crush them all.

XXX

Kakashi got into fighting stance as he heard footsteps approaching. Ready for whatever would come at him from the thick fog. When Sasuke slid to a stop in front of him, he was pleasantly surprised.

"Sasuke!"

"Kakashi! He's here, and he has brought an army with him, I don't know how large, but it's underground."

"Underground huh? So Suigetsu was rig..." Sasuke interrupted Kakashi.

"Where's Naruto?" Kakashi pointed towards the temple. Sasuke gave him a nod of thanks and disappeared back into the fog. It only took him a few seconds to reach the temple and he made his way inside. When he reached the inner room, he saw Naruto in the center of the room in a deep state of meditation. Killer B standing guard by his side. Sasuke slowly entered the room.

"Naruto..." His eyes popped open at the sound of his name. When his eyes met Sasuke's they lit up with happiness and excitement, a smile forming on his face.

"Sasuke!" He stood on his feet and was about to dash forwards when his face turned more serious. "If you're here, then that means..." Sasuke nodded.

"He is only minutes behind me, if that, and he is bringing an army." Naruto let out an exasperated sigh at Sasuke's words.

"This is no time to lose focus." He walked forward and wrapped his arms around Sasuke who returned the embrace. "But I am so glad to see you. It's time that we end this and go home." They pulled apart and placed their foreheads together.

"It seems you've matured some since you've been gone." They both chuckled at Sasuke's words. With a smirk Naruto reached down and grabbed his butt causing their groins to rub together. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Maybe I spoke to soon."

"Just kiss me you stupid bastard." Naruto moved his hands to either side of Sasuke's face and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Sasuke thought about all of the nights he had missed him, all of the time he had spent thinking about him. He could hardly believe how hard he had fallen, and how glad he was that he did. He had been so full of hate, and loneliness. He never would have guessed in a thousand years that things would have turned out this way, but now that he was here, he couldn't think of anything better. He kissed Naruto back with the same passion, pouring all his pent up emotion into it and hoping Naruto would understand. Their kiss quickly morphed into a make out session, hands grabbing, and tongues exploring. Sasuke picked Naruto up and he wrapped his legs around him, their lip lock never breaking. He pushed him up against the temple wall and their moans filled the chamber. God they had missed each other, more than either would care to admit, but both could tell by their desperate need to be close to the other. Before things could get any more out of hand they were interrupted by B.

"Yo, yo, yo, I'm still here ya kno! It's time to go, we got to kill a real nasty bro! Yow!" Naruto's face turned a deep shade of red and he buried his face is Sasuke's shoulder, who simply smirked and allowed Naruto's feet to slip back down to the floor.

"Uh, sorry B hehe." Naruto scratched the back of his head as he awkwardly apologized for the display of affection B had just seen.

"No problem my brotha, you two love eachotha! Yow!" Sasuke snorted slightly has he tried not to laugh at B's terrible rap, and the look of embarrassment on Naruto's face. Naruto slapped his forehead.

"Come on! Let's just get ready, he will be here any second!" Naruto stormed out of the temple.

The three stood outside of the temple ready for anything that might come their way. Sasuke had on his typical look of disinterest, and his nonchalant attitude in case the look alone wasn't enough. His entire demeanor screamed you aren't worth my time. Naruto had a look of sheer determination, and an over confident attitude as though he was celebrating a victory, not waiting for the beginning a battle. Killer B, had a huge grin on his face that tied into the aura of crazy that he gave off. Something about his demeanor made him seem a little bit off, nothing someone could pinpoint, but enough for them to know he's dangerous. The three of them stood together, ready to draw blood from whoever dared to challenge them.

XXX

Madara had just made it into the bay when Zetsu appeared in the water. "What are your orders?"

"Forget going unnoticed. Send in the first wave...and Zetsu, tell our good friend Kabuto to prepare to use the reanimation jutsu." Zetsu nodded before vanishing back into the water. A few moments later the ground began to shake and the sea began to churn causing the turtle to rock back and forth somewhat violently. Suddenly, white Zetsu burst through the ground covering the crescent island in an instant. Hundreds of them flowed from the ground like ants from an anthill. Yamato, Guy, and Kakashi all appeared in front of Naruto, Sasuke, and B.

"This is not good. There are hundreds of enemies out there and we can hardly see a thing. We need to get eyes on Madara." Everyone nodded in agreement with Kakashi's words.

"I think I can clear away the fog using wind style."

"That's a good idea Naruto, except it will give away your exact position." Naruto got a mischievous grin on his face.

"Then it's an even better idea." Naruto took off for the top of the temple.

"Na, Naruto!" Kakashi called after him. He let out a sigh and shook his head knowing full well Naruto was not going to come back. "So much for the original plan of concealing Naruto's location." Once that boy got an idea in his head, there was no changing his mind. Kakashi looked over at Sasuke who just shrugged and took off after Naruto. "Those two...who would've thought..." Kakashi mumbled to himself. "Alright, Yamato, Guy, B, as soon as this fog is cleared we are going to be in for the fight of our lives, everyone ready?" Yamato nodded, B gave him a thumbs up and Guy was bent over in a corner puking his guts out.

"Just a...moment...Kakashi." Guy managed to get a few words out between all of his gagging and retching. "A momentary...bout...of...sickness...seems to have...come over me."

Kakashi slapped his forehead. "He's sea sick, the turtle rocking back and forth is making him sea sick. Well this is no good. Go fight on land Guy, you'll be no good here so long as the seas are causing the turtle to rock this much."

"Sounds like a plan Kakashi! I will support you from the shores! Fight with the power of YOU..." The last part of Guy's sentence was cut off by more vomit.

XXX

"So, what's our strategy?" Naruto didn't bother turning around as Sasuke walked up behind him.

"I will be the speed and you will be the strength. His only weakness is that he has to materialize whenever he attacks, but even so, he is incredibly fast. I'll use transformation jutsu to look like you, so when you create shadow clones I can blend right in. Then you draw his attention by hitting him with a barrage of attacks, this guy starts to make mistakes when he is not in complete control of the situation and things start to not go his way. If we can get him angry, and then give him an opening, he will be so focused on his attack, and killing you, that he won't see me coming."

"Sound like a plan." Naruto looked over at Sasuke and gave him his signature smile and got into a wide stance. "Let's do this! Rasen Shuriken!" A ball of chakra immediately began to form in the palm of Naruto's hand, four sharp points appeared as he incorporated his wind nature into it. As the spinning ball of chakra gained speed it became impossible to see the blades at all. Naruto held the Rasen Shuriken above his head. "Expand!" In an instant it had quadrupled in size. Sasuke nearly got decapitated. Sasuke squatted beside Naruto and moved chakra to the soles of his feet to hold himself to the top of the temple as the gargantuan wind shuriken began to suck in the air around it, pulling the fog with it. As the intense fog began to clear, all of the white zetsu that had come up from the ground became visible and it was obvious that more were still flowing from the earth. Sasuke used a transformation jutsu creating a perfect likeness of Naruto. As the fog continued to clear more and more a small boat began to become visible in center of the bay. Madara standing at the front. "There he is." Naruto growled through gritted teeth. "MADARAAAAAA!" As Naruto let out a furious yell he leaned back and launched the Rasen Shuriken toward Madara. Everyone stared in amazement as the giant ball of chakra hurtled towards Madara at incredible speeds. To everyones surprise it flew right over the top of his head missing by mere inches. The Rasen Shuriken curved and crashed into the side of the island at the beginning of the entrance, following the crescent shape of the island, tearing through the mountains has it went. Once it finally reached the other side of the crescent the remaining chakra shot out into the air and dissipated. After all the noise ceased an eerie silence fell over the battle field. Through the silence the sound of cracking could be heard. Slowly around every side of the crescent island huge pieces of the mountain began to dislodge from where they had been struck by Naruto's projectile.

Naruto reached up and pulled the knot is his head band tighter. He stared his opponent down from the top of the temple. "Hey bastard!...The next one won't miss!" Naruto's yell echoed throughout the bay and the battle began.


End file.
